Moisture and heat transport in hysteretic, inhomogeneous porous media: A matric head‐based formulation and a numerical model

A general, physically based formulation of water and energy transport in partially saturated soil must account for the coupling between the fields of matric potential ψ and temperature T . The formulation by de Vries (1958) is converted to one that employs ψ and T as the dependent variables. This conversion facilitates a significant generalization of the theory to accommodate the omnipresent complications of hysteresis and inhomogeneity. The limitations of the assumptions of local thermodynamic equilibrium are discussed. A finite element solution algorithm for the one‐dimensional equations is outlined and tested on a variety of problems. The computational results demonstrate the reliability of the numerical model.