Detailed Features of ChemFlux 1D/2D

ChemFlux implements a comprehensive list of features which are outlined as follows:

Simulation Features

• Transient (time dependant) analysis.
• Saturated or unsaturated analysis.
• Model advection, diffusion, adsorption, and radioactive or biological decay.
• Customizable solutions through a modifiable governing partial differential equation.
• Import groundwater gradients from SVFlux.
• Flux sections may be placed at any location in the model to summarize contaminant mass flux across a section.
• Contaminant flow with time may be tracked across flux sections.
• Finite element analysis by the Galerkin method. The solver uses advanced features such as preconditioning of the convergence matrix as well as staging and automatic mesh refinement to achieve solutions with greater stability than any other software currently available.
• Solver runs on Red Hat Linux or Windows with support for hyper-threading and multiple processors.
• Fully automatic mesh generation. Mesh generation may be limited by a maximum number of nodes or by a maximum specified error.
• Fully automatic mesh refinement. Mesh refinement is based on the relative error of the governing equation and therefore automatically locates critical zones. In a transient analysis a different mesh is generated for each time step. Mesh refinement allows reduction in numerical dispersion and artificial oscellation numerical problems typically encountered in contaminant transport models. ChemFlux is currently the only commercial contaminant transport package in the world to offer mesh refinement. Read more about adaptive grid refinement in research published by Mansell, 2002.
• Mesh refinement can be set to follow the contaminant front whereby greatly increasing solution stability and accuracy.
• Fully automatic time-step refinement for transient analysis. The time-steps selected by the solver are independant of the plotting intervals selected by the user.

Model Design Features

• Import geometry from SVFlux.
• CAD style user interface.
• Grid, snapping, and object snapping features available.
• Zooming, panning features available.
• Graphically assign boundary conditions.
• Concentration or flux boundary conditions may be specified as contants or free-form equations. Free form equations may be specified as a function of position or time (i.e. C=0.8+exp(t)*0.3).
• Problems may be entered in Metric or Imperial units.
• All aspects of all models are stored in a database which may be placed on a server. Multiple users may be "plugged in" to the same modeling database.
• A central database of soil properties for all entered contaminant transport problems is maintained. New problems may draw soils from existing problems.
• Problem geometry may be imported from existing problems.
• Existing problems may be saved under a new name in the database to allow quick generation of multiple scenarios.
• Colors or patterns of soil regions may be specified.
• Lines may be added to model to force mesh refinement along a linear object.
• Internal boundary conditions may be set or node density specified along internal line objects.
• Sketch text or lines may be added to the model design.
• Graphical model design may be exported as a WMF or DXF file and/or printed.
• Bitmap or DXF geometry may be imported and layered behind model geometry to simplify model creation (version 3.0).

Output Features

• Color contour plots of concentrations, water gradients in the x or y direction, or volumetric water content. Custom color shadings may be specified.
• Plots may be zoomed to isolate any region of interest.
• Surface plots of concentration may be produced.
• Volume or water volume integrals may be computed over the entire problem or any particular region of interest.
• Mesh plots track mesh refinement.
• Plots of value versus time may be generated at any coordinate for the following values: concentration.
• Overlaying of plots may be performed. For example, contours may be shown in Region 1 while the mesh may be shown in Region 2.
• Text and line art may be added to output.
• Graphical output may be exported to WMF, DXF, JPG, or BMP formats.
• Transient results may be animated.

Applications

• Single-phase miscible contaminant movement.
• Movement of contaminants out of tailings pits and earth containment facilities.
• Solution of advection-dominated problems typically plagued by convergence problems.
• Modeling of problems dominated by radioactive or biological decay.
• Model contaminant movement through any combination of advection, dispersion, adsorption and/or decay.

Documentation

The following manuals document the operation of the ChemFlux software. The design of the software makes it simple to learn and use. Most users are able to learn how to use the software effectively to create 2D problems within 30-60 minutes.

• User's manual - documents specific operation of software.
• Tutorial manual - Step-by-step instructions guide the user through creation of 2D and 3D problems.
• Theory manual - documents the theory of the governing partial differential equations used in the solution of the seepage problem.
• Verification manual - benchmarks the ChemFlux software against typical seepage problems published in texts, journal papers, or manuals from other software packages.

System Requirements

• ChemFlux2D runs on Windows 95/98, NT 4.0, Me, 2000, and XP. The recommended minimum hardware configuration is a P266 with 128MB RAM and 35 MB hard disk space.