Integrated into the GeoStudio Suite
AIR/W is integrated into the GeoStudio
suite, and therefore has access to
the GeoStudio features for creating
your model, analyzing it, and viewing results.
Comprehensive Air Flow Formulation
AIR/W is a finite element CAD software
product for analyzing air flow or air-groundwater interaction problems within porous
materials such as soil and rock. Its comprehensive formulation allows you to
consider analyses ranging from single phase steady-state problems to
sophisticated dual phase time-dependent problems. AIR/W can be applied to the
analysis and design of geotechnical, civil, hydrogeological, and mining
engineering projects.
Typical Applications
AIR/W can model geotechnical problems including:
- Simple single phase air flow problems
- Density dependent air flow that contributes to convective heat transfer in freezing / thawing soils (when coupled with TEMP/W)
- Soil vapor extraction systems
- Evaluation of tunnel air pressure for water inflow control
- Air and water pressure response ahead of water infiltration fronts
- Movement of gases through porous media (when coupled with CTRAN/W)
Formulated for Single Phase or Dual Phase Flow
Air transfer analysis can be conducted
using a single phase or dual phase material model. Single phase air transfer means that only pressure and
gravity-driven air flow is considered, while storage changes occur due solely
to pressure changes. The dual phase material model integrates with SEEP/W to
allow air conductivity and storage changes to be linked to changes in water
content.
Estimate Material Properties from Measured Data
The air conductivity function can be
generated based on the dry soil air conductivity and a user-selected volumetric
water content function. The estimation process requires only fundamental
information such as soil classification or grain size distribution.
Comprehensive Range of Generalized Boundary Conditions
AIR/W supports a comprehensive list of
boundary condition options including pore-air pressure, pore-air total head, flux
rate, and flow rate. In keeping with the entire GeoStudio suite, AIR/W makes
use of either constants or generalized functions for boundary condition
definition. As such, actual field data or user-specified functional
relationships can be pasted into AIR/W to define boundary conditions.
Model Barometric Air Pressure at the Ground Surface
Modeling air transfer in porous media, such a convective air flow in a waste rock dump, requires careful consideration of the air pressure conditions at the ground surface. The barometric air pressure boundary condition computes the pressure based on the absolute pore-air pressure and air temperature conditions, along with a reference elevation, according to the Barometric Formula.
Integrate with TEMP/W to model Diverse Problem Sets
AIR/W can be combined with TEMP/W to model free-convection (density-driven) air transfer. Integration of AIR/W and TEMP/W also allows for the simulation of heat transfer via forced-convection.
Convenient Initial Condition Definition
Initial conditions for transient analyses
can be determined using a variety of options including a spatial function of
pore-air pressure, activation pore-air pressure, or results from another
GeoStudio finite element analysis.
Model in 1D, 2D, Plan or Axisymmetric View
AIR/W includes analysis options for
modeling pseudo three-dimensional problems such as air permeameter field tests
or coupled-air water radial flow to a well.
Powerful Graphing of Results
Graphing is critical for the interpretation
of an air flow system. The
powerful graphing options in GeoStudio make it possible to plot critical
information in AIR/W such as pore-air pressure profiles, air flow versus time,
and material properties. All of this data can be exported or copy/pasted
directly into spreadsheet software.
Visualize Air Flow Paths
Once the analysis is complete, you can interactively click on any part of the domain to visualize the air flow path through this point.
Sensitivity Analysis with AIR/W
A sensitivity analysis can be readily conducted
with AIR/W by cloning multiple analyses using the Analysis Tree and then making
slight changes to each one.
Optimization and Calibration
AIR/W can be paired with other software to
conduct optimization/calibration of material properties.