Modelling Fractional Advection–Diffusion Processes via the Adomian Decomposition

Abstract

When treating geomaterials, fractional derivatives are used to model anomalous dispersion or diffusion phenomena that occur when the mass transport media are anisotropic, which is generally the case. Taking into account anomalous diffusion processes, a revised Fick’s diffusion law is to be considered, where the fractional derivative order physically reflects the heterogeneity of the soil medium in which the diffusion phenomena take place. The solutions of fractional partial differential equations can be computed by using the so-called semi-analytical methods that do not require any discretization and linearization in order to obtain accurate results, e.g., the Adomian Decomposition Method (ADM). Such a method is innovatively applied for overcoming the critical issue of geometric nonlinearities in coupled saturated porous media and the potentialities of the approach are studied, as well as findings discussed.