Analytical solutions of moisture flow equations and their numerical evaluation

The role of analytical solutions of idealized moisture flow problems is discussed. Some different formulations of the moisture flow problem are reviewed. A number of different analytical solutions are summarized, including the case of idealized coupled moisture and heat flow. The evaluation of special functions which commonly arise in analytical solutions is discussed, including some pitfalls in the evaluation of expressions involving combinations of special functions. Finally, perturbation theory methods are summarized which can be used to obtain good approximate analytical solutions to problems which are too complicated to solve exactly, but which are close to an analytically solvable problem.