2D vertical - groundwater surface

Hello,

to simulate the flow in a crossection with a free groundwater surface I used the "vertical problem projection" with "unsaturated media" as general type of problem. Analysing the height of the free surface I didn´t found usefull information displaying the hydraulic heads: the isolines in the section didn´t trace the border between the saturated and the unsaturated area as I expected. The view for the saturation was more suitable but shows a zigzag-line.

So, what is the best way to show the free groundwater surface in a 2D vertical model? Is it  to define a very fine mesh in the area where the free surface is expected and than show the distribution of the saturation analysing the border of the area with the value "1"?

Thanks for an answer!

Hi,
I normally use the pressure distribution for visualization of water level. Pressure = 0 would give you the water table. To visualize this you should edit the legend options: set the resolution equal 2 (only 2 classes) and fix the minimum and maximum value symmetrically arround 0 (e.g. -1.0 and 1.0). So this should work well.

Another tip about modelling this sections:
if your water table would not look like you expected, you should check whether your local coordinate system equals the global system.

Hi,
I use the same. pressure distribution. But I think is easier to manage it since the "view results" in run module or post-process module(if you has saved the results of your simulation before). iIn the view results, You need to select "isoline patter" and "lined contour" in the left box,  "pressure" in the bottom left box and in "graphics plolling contour options" you must set "reference isoline = 0" and "minimun isoline level =0", also you can select the frecuency of the contour if you want.

You should see the pressure=0 line which is the water table.