Discretization on Unstructured Grids for Inhomogeneous, Anisotropic Media. Part I: Derivation of the Methods

Abstract
Discretization methods are proposed for control-volume formulations on polygonal and triangular grid cells in two space dimensions. The methods are applicable for any system of conservation laws where the flow density is defined by a gradient law, like Darcy's law for porous-media flow. A strong feature of the methods is the ability to handle media inhomogeneities in combination with full-tensor anisotropy. This paper gives a derivation of the methods, and the relation to previously published methods is also discussed. A further discussion of the methods, including numerical examples, is given in the companion paper, Part II [SIAM J. Sci. Comput., pp. 1717--1736].