Abstract: When the filtration equation was solved numerically by the standard finite volume method, numerical solutions suffered from the “numerical hot barrier” phenomenon, in which numerical interface could not propagate forward correctly, we proposed a modified finite volume method. The diffusion coefficient of the method was the algebraic mean of the values of density variable at two neighbour elements. The results of numerical experiments show that the new scheme can effectively avoid “numerical hot barrier” phenomenon.

Key words: finite volume method, filtration equation, nonlinear iteration, Barenblatt solution