2D approach for modelling self-potential anomalies. Application to synthetic and real data

The aim of this work is to present a 2-D Matlab code based on the finite element method for providing numerical modelling of both groundwater flow and self-potential signals. The distribution of the self-potential is obtained by starting with the solution of the groundwater flow, then computing the source current density, and finally calculating the electrical potential. The reliability of the algorithm is tested with synthetic case studies in order to simulate both the electric field resulting from the existence of a leak in the dam and SP signals associated with a pumping test in an unconfined aquifer. In addition, the algorithm was applied to field data for the localization of piping sinkholes. The results show that the outputs of the algorithm yielded satisfactory solutions, which are in good agreement with those of previous studies and field investigations. In details, the synthetic data and SP anomalies calculated by using the code are very close in terms of sign and magnitude, while real data tests clearly indicated that the computed SP signals were found to be consistent with the measured values

Imaging of a fluid injection process using geophysical data - A didactic example

In many subsurface industrial applications, fluids are injected into or withdrawn from a geologic formation. It is of practical interest to quantify precisely where, when, and by how much the injected fluid alters the state of the subsurface. Routine geophysical monitoring of such processes attempts to image the way that geophysical properties, such as seismic velocities or electrical conductivity, change through time and space and to then make qualitative inferences as to where the injected fluid has migrated. The more rigorous formulation of the time-lapse geophysical inverse problem forecasts how the subsurface evolves during the course of a fluid-injection application. Using time-lapse geophysical signals as the data to be matched, the model unknowns to be estimated are the multiphysics forward-modeling parameters controlling the fluid-injection process. Properly reproducing the geophysical signature of the flow process, subsequent simulations can predict the fluid migration and alteration in the subsurface. The dynamic nature of fluid-injection processes renders imaging problems more complex than conventional geophysical imaging for static targets. This work intents to clarify the related hydrogeophysical parameter estimation concepts

A Hybrid Gyrokinetic Ion and Isothermal Electron Fluid Code for Astrophysical Plasma

This paper describes a new code for simulating astrophysical plasmas that solves a hybrid model composed of gyrokinetic ions (GKI) and an isothermal electron fluid (ITEF) [A. Schekochihin et al., Astrophys. J. Suppl. \textbf{182}, 310 (2009)]. This model captures ion kinetic effects that are important near the ion gyro-radius scale while electron kinetic effects are ordered out by an electron-ion mass ratio expansion. The code is developed by incorporating the ITEF approximation into {\tt AstroGK}, an Eulerian $\delta f$ gyrokinetics code specialized to a slab geometry [R. Numata et al., J. Compute. Pays. \textbf{229}, 9347 (2010)]. The new code treats the linear terms in the ITEF equations implicitly while the nonlinear terms are treated explicitly. We show linear and nonlinear benchmark tests to prove the validity and applicability of the simulation code. Since the fast electron timescale is eliminated by the mass ratio expansion, the Courant--Friedrichs--Lewy condition is much less restrictive than in full gyrokinetic codes; the present hybrid code runs $\sim 2\sqrt{m_\mathrm{i}/m_\mathrm{e}} \sim 100$ times faster than {\tt AstroGK}\ with a single ion species and kinetic electrons where $m_\mathrm{i}/m_\mathrm{e}$ is the ion-electron mass ratio. The improvement of the computational time makes it feasible to execute ion scale gyrokinetic simulations with a high velocity space resolution and to run multiple simulations to determine the dependence of turbulent dynamics on parameters such as electron--ion temperature ratio and plasma beta

Elastic properties of a tungsten-silver composite by reconstruction and computation

We statistically reconstruct a three-dimensional model of a tungsten-silver composite from an experimental two-dimensional image. The effective Young's modulus ($E$) of the model is computed in the temperature range 25-1060^o C using a finite element method. The results are in good agreement with experimental data. As a test case, we have reconstructed the microstructure and computed the moduli of the overlapping sphere model. The reconstructed and overlapping sphere models are examples of bi-continuous (non-particulate) media. The computed moduli of the models are not generally in good agreement with the predictions of the self-consistent method. We have also evaluated three-point variational bounds on the Young's moduli of the models using the results of Beran, Molyneux, Milton and Phan-Thien. The measured data were close to the upper bound if the properties of the two phases were similar ($1/6 < E_1 /E_2 < 6$).Comment: 23 Pages, 12 Figure