Verification of the Numerical Simulation of Permafrost Using COMSOL Multiphysics® Software

E. Dagher[1], G. Su[1], T. S. Nguyen[1]
[1]Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, Ottawa, ON, Canada
Publié en 2014

COMSOL® software was used to simulate the conductive heat transfer with phase change in the geological formations encompassed in permafrost surrounding a shallow thaw lake. The purpose of the simulation was to verify the adequacy of COMSOL to model such phenomena by comparing the COMSOL results to those obtained by another FEM model (Ling and Zhang, 2003). The graphical comparison of the simulation results show that they are in agreement with those published by Ling and Zhang (2003). In light of the obtained results, COMSOL can be used to adequately model the time-dependent conductive heat transfer with phase change and assess the thaw effects due to a shallow thaw lake over continuous permafrost.