Modeling Rainwater Infiltration Through Gabions in Soil (Richards Equation, COMSOL)

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Hello, I am trying to model how rainwater infiltrates into soil that contains gabions (structures made of large rocks) buried in the ground.

My goal is to design a system that collects rainwater from a roof, and directs this water into the gabions to improve infiltration into the soil.

Unfortunately, my simulation works fine when I model only the geometry of the soil, but as soon as I add the geometry of the gabions, the transient simulation crashes and displays the error message attached.

I am using the Richards equation with boundary conditions specific to my study site, and I have cumulative rainfall data for one year to simulate the rain falling on my system. My objective is to determine how much additional water I can infiltrate through the gabions into my system (in addition to the rain falling directly on the soil) without causing overflow.

I’ve attached my file in case anyone can check if I’ve made a mistake, or suggest another way to carry out this study using COMSOL or another finite element simulation software.



0 Replies Last Post 14 ago 2025, 18:14 GMT-4
COMSOL Moderator

Hello Sébastien Nardini

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