Multiscale finite element method–triple grid model for simulation of groundwater flows

The traditional finite element method often requires fine element grids to describle the heterogeneity of medium to ensure the accuracy for numerical modeling of groundwater, which leads to a large amount of calculation consumption. The multiscale finite element method can alleviate this problem, but it still needs a high cost to formulate the basis function when dealing with high computational complexity. A multiscale finite element method-triple grid model (MSFEM-T) is proposed for the simulation of groundwater flows. The MSFEM-T introduces an intermediate grid between the coarse grid and the fine grid, so that the basis function in the coarse grid can be established using the MSFEM instead of the FEM based on the intermediate and fine grids, therefore reducing the construction consumption of the basis function and improving the overall calculation efficiency. Moreover, the MSFEM-T uses an over-sampling method based on the coarse, intermediate and fine grids, which can further improve its calculation accuracy. The results show that the accuracy of the MSFEM-T is similar to that of the MSFEM and the finite element method of fine elements (LFEM-F), but the computational efficiency is much higher.