Applied Mathematics and Mechanics (English Edition) ›› 2007, Vol. 28 ›› Issue (6): 823-828 .doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10483-007-0612-x

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Note on Barenblatt power series solution to Boussinesq equation

SONG Zhi-yao, LI Ling, David Lockington   

  1. State Key Laboratory of Hydrology-Water Resources and Hydraulic Engineering, Ocean College, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, P. R. China;
  2. Center for Eco-environmental Modelling, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, P. R. China;
  3. School of Engineering, The University of Queensland, Qld 4072, Australia;
  4. Key Laboratory of Virtual Geographic Environment (Ministry of Education), Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210097, P. R. China
  • Received:2006-10-30 Revised:2007-03-09 Online:2007-06-18 Published:2007-06-18
  • Contact: SONG Zhi-yao

Abstract: To the self-similar analytical solution of the Boussinesq equation of groundwater flow in a semi-infinite porous medium, when the hydraulic head at the boundary behaved like a power of time, Barenblatt obtained a power series solution. However, he listed only the first three coefficients and did not give the recurrent formula among the coefficients. A formal proof of convergence of the series did not appear in his works. In this paper, the recurrent formula for the coefficients is obtained by using the method of power series expansion, and the convergence of the series is proven. The results can be easily understood and used by engineers in the catchment hydrology and baseflow studies as well as to solve agricultural drainage problems.

Key words: similarity solution, recurrent formula, convergence, power series expansion

2010 MSC Number: 

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