TY - JOUR T1 - Numerical Analysis of a Mixed Finite Element Approximation of a Coupled System Modeling Biofilm Growth in Porous Media with Simulations AU - Alhammali , Azhar AU - Peszynska , Malgorzata AU - Shin , Choah JO - International Journal of Numerical Analysis and Modeling VL - 1 SP - 20 EP - 64 PY - 2024 DA - 2024/01 SN - 21 DO - http://doi.org/10.4208/ijnam2024-1002 UR - https://global-sci.org/intro/article_detail/ijnam/22328.html KW - Parabolic variational inequality, nonlinear coupled system, mixed finite element method, error estimates, biofilm–nutrient model, porous media. AB -

In this paper, we consider mixed finite element approximation of a coupled system of nonlinear parabolic advection-diffusion-reaction variational (in)equalities modeling biofilm growth and nutrient utilization in porous media at pore-scale. We study well-posedness of the discrete system and derive an optimal error estimate of first order. Our theoretical estimates extend the work on a scalar degenerate parabolic problem by Arbogast et al, 1997 [4] to a variational inequality; we also apply it to a system. We also verify our theoretical convergence results with simulations of realistic scenarios.