Upstream mobility finite volumes for the Richards equation in heterogenous domains

Abstract

This paper is concerned with the Richards equation in a heterogeneous domain, each subdomain of which is homogeneous and represents a rocktype. Our first contribution is to rigorously prove convergence toward a weak solution of cell-centered finite-volume schemes with upstream mobility and without Kirchhoff’s transform. Our second contribution is to numerically demonstrate the relevance of locally refining the grid at the interface between subregions, where discontinuities occur, in order to preserve an acceptable accuracy for the results computed with the schemes under consideration.