Groundwater flow simulation in unconfined aquifers using meshless local Petrov–Galerkin method

The complex behaviour of the aquifer system is generally studied by solving a set of governing equations using either analytical or numerical methods. Numerical techniques like finite difference method (FDM) and finite element method (FEM) are generally being used to solve such problems, as analytical solutions can be obtained only for simple cases. The Meshless methods are the recently developed numerical technique which can be alternatively used for solving the groundwater problem. A variety of Meshless methods are under intense research for the development of solution for many engineering problems. As no meshing, it can save substantial cost and time on pre-processing, unlike mesh based methods, which require meshing and re-meshing. In this paper, the Galerkin equivalent of Meshless Local Petrov–Galerkin (MLPG) method with Exponential/Gaussian Radial basis function (EXP–RBF) is used for the first time for solving the unconfined groundwater problem. Computer models in MATLAB have been developed in 2D for the solution of unconfined aquifer problems. The developed models are verified with available analytical and numerical solutions. The results are found to be satisfactory. The present study shows that the MLPG based method can be used in the effective simulation of groundwater flow problems.