Treatment of transitional element with the Monte Carlo method for FEM-based seepage analysis

In this paper, The Monte Carlo method is incorporated into the finite element method (FEM) to conduct seepage analysis with a free surface. For the transitional element cut by the free surface, it is used to calculate the composite permeability coefficient, as well as to perform the integration directly using Monte Carlo integration. This new algorithm requires less iteration procedures for convergence. The convergence of the method is also proved for cases where there is a significant difference between the permeability coefficient above and below the free surface.