Matric Flux Potential in Time Independent Infiltration Problems from a Single Triangular and a Trapezoidal Irrigation Channel

Abstract

In this paper, steady infiltration problems into a homogeneous soil from a single triangular and trapezoidal irrigation channel are considered. The governing equation is Richard's equation that represents the movement of water in unsaturated soil. It is a non-linear equation and can be solved by linearizing to become a modified Helmholtz equation. Dual Reciprocity Boundary Element Methods (DRBEM) are used in this study to numerically solve the modified Helmholtz equation. Therefore, by using a provided solution, the numerical Matric Flux Potential (MFP) is calculated. This method was applied to the homogeneous soil problem of stationer infiltration from triangular and trapezoidal single irrigation. Both numerical solutions were compared. The result show that the MFP value from the triangular irrigation is higher than the trapezoidal irrigation. This indicates that content water from the triangular irrigation channel is higher than the trapezoidal irrigation channel.