Numerical solutions of the shallow water equations with discontinuous bed topography

A simple scheme is developed for treatment of vertical bed topography in shallow water flows. The effect of the vertical step on flows is modelled with the shallow water equations including local energy loss terms. The bed elevation is denoted with z_b^‐ for the left and z_b⁺ for the right values at each grid point, hence exactly representing a discontinuity in the bed topography. The surface gradient method (SGM) is generalized to reconstruct water depths at cell interfaces involving a vertical step so that the fluxes at the cell interfaces can accurately be calculated with a Riemann solver. The scheme is verified by predicting a surge crossing a step, a tidal flow over a step and dam‐break flows on wet/dry beds. The results have shown good agreements compared with analytical solutions and available experimental data. The scheme is efficient, robust, and may be used for practical flow calculations. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Lattice Boltzmann modeling of shallow water flows over discontinuous beds

Numerical modeling of shallow water flows over discontinuous beds is presented. The flows are described with the shallow water equations and the equations are solved using the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) with single relaxation time (Bhatnagar–Gross–Krook‐LBM (BGK‐LBM)) and the multiple relaxation time (MRT‐LBM). The weighted centered scheme for force term together with the bed height for a bed slope is described to improve simulation of flows over discontinuous bed. Furthermore, the resistance stress is added to include the local head loss caused by flow over a step. Four test cases, one‐dimensional tidal over regular bed and steps, dam‐break flows, and two‐dimensional shallow water flow over a square block, are considered to verify the present method. Agreements between predictions and analytical solutions are satisfactory. Furthermore, the performance and CPU cost time of BGK‐LBM and MRT‐LBM are compared and studied. The results have shown that the lattice Boltzmann method is simple and accurate for simulating shallow water flows over discontinuous beds. This demonstrates the capability and applicability of the lattice Boltzmann method in modeling shallow water flows on bed topography with a discontinuity in practical hydraulic engineering. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An unstructured finite volume model for dam‐break floods with wet/dry fronts over complex topography

A robust, well‐balanced, unstructured, Godunov‐type finite volume model has been developed in order to simulate two‐dimensional dam‐break floods over complex topography with wetting and drying. The model is based on the nonlinear shallow water equations in hyperbolic conservation form. The inviscid fluxes are calculated using the HLLC approximate Riemann solver and a second‐order spatial accuracy is achieved by implementing the MUSCL reconstruction technique. To prevent numerical oscillations near shocks, slope‐limiting techniques are used for controlling the total variation of the reconstructed field. The model utilizes an explicit two‐stage Runge–Kutta method for time stepping, whereas implicit treatments for friction source terms. The novelties of the model include the flux correction terms and the water depth reconstruction method both for partially and fully submerged cells, and the wet/dry front treatments. The proposed flux correction terms combined with the water depth reconstruction method are necessary to balance the bed slope terms and flux gradient in the hydrostatical steady flow condition. Especially, this well‐balanced property is also preserved in partially submerged cells. It is found that the developed wet/dry front treatments and implicit scheme for friction source terms are stable. The model is tested against benchmark problems, laboratory experimental data, and realistic application related to dam‐break flood wave propagation over arbitrary topography. Numerical results show that the model performs satisfactorily with respect to its effectiveness and robustness and thus has bright application prospects. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

HLLC scheme with novel wave‐speed estimators appropriate for two‐dimensional shallow‐water flow on erodible bed

This paper presents a first‐order HLLC (Harten‐Lax‐Van Leer with contact discontinuities) scheme to solve the Saint‐Venant shallow‐water equations, including morphological evolution of the bed by erosion and deposition of sediments. The Exner equation is used to model the morphological evolution of the bed, while a closure equation is needed to evaluate the rate of sediment transport. The system of Saint‐Venant–Exner equations is solved in a fully coupled way using a finite‐volume technique and a HLLC solver for the fluxes, with a novel wave‐speed estimator adapted to the Exner equation. Wave speeds are usually derived by computing the eigenvalues of the full system, which is highly time‐consuming when no analytical expression is available. In this paper, an eigenvalue analysis of the full system is conducted, leading to simple but still accurate wave‐speed estimators. The new numerical scheme is then tested in three different situations: (1) a circular dam‐break flow over movable bed, (2) an one‐dimensional bed aggradation problem simulated on a 2D unstructured mesh and (3) the case of a dam‐break flow in an erodible channel with a sudden enlargement, for which experimental measurements are available. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Numerical simulations of wave interactions with vertical wave barriers using the SPH method

This paper focuses on the fluid boundary separation problem of the conventional dynamic solid boundary treatment (DSBT) and proposes a modified DSBT (MDSBT). Classic 2D free dam break flows and 3D dam break flows against a rectangular box are used to assess the performance of this MDSBT in free surface flow and violent fluid–structure interaction, respectively. Another test, water column oscillations in a U‐tube, is specially designed to reveal the applicability of dealing with two types of particular boundaries: the wet–dry solid boundary and the large‐curvature solid boundary. A comparison between the numerical results and the experimental data shows that the MDSBT is capable of eliminating the fluid boundary separation, improving the accuracy of the solid boundary pressure calculations and preventing the unphysical penetration of fluid particles. Using a 2D SPH numerical wave tank with MDSBT, the interactions between regular waves and a simplified vertical wave barrier are simulated. The numerical results reveal that the maximum horizontal force occurs at the endpoint of the vertical board, and with the enlargement of the relative submerged board length, the maximum moment grows linearly; furthermore, the relative average mass transportation under the breakwater initially increases to 11.14 per wave strike but is later reduced. The numerical simulation of a full‐scale 3D wave barrier with two vertical boards shows that the wave and structure interactions in the practical project are far more complicated than in the simplified 2D models. The SPH model using the MDSBT is capable of providing a reference for engineering designs. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An efficient and flexible solver for the simulation of the morphodynamics of fast evolving flows on coarse sediment beaches

A well‐balanced total variation diminishing–McCormack scheme is used to simulate the fast evolving flow on a mobile coarse sediments bed. The scheme is chosen because of its shock capturing capabilities and its relative simplicity, which allow different sediment transport formulae to be slotted in easily. A typical example of the kind of flows treated here is bore‐driven wave run‐up. The analogy with a dam‐break on a mobile bed is used here to analyze the performance of the model. The model solves the nonlinear shallow water equations coupled with the Exner sediment balance equation for the mobile bed. Quasi‐analytical solutions to this problem for different expressions for instantaneous sediment discharge formulae are used to test the performance of the scheme. Together with the existing solution for the Grass formula, a further solution is obtained for a different formula. Numerical tests were also carried out for a further formula that is an industry standard. The agreement of the results with the solutions is very good and consistent results were obtained for all the formulae tested. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Computation of two-dimensional dam-break flood flows

Sudden total collapse of a dam holding back a reservoir of water, whenever it occurs, becomes formidably impressive in the extent of destruction with which it is associated. The movement on a dry bed of a two-dimensional flood wave resulting from the break of a dam has been one of the most important and challenging subjects in rapidly varied unsteady flows from the computational point of view. An implicit time-marching finite volume numerical scheme was developed and subsequently applied for the solution of the two-dimensional unsteady open channel flow equations written in conservation form. In order to avoid the problems associated with a conventional grid system, a body-fitted non-orthogonal local co-ordinate system was utilized. The proposed numerical technique was applied to determine the stage hydrographs, water surface profiles and velocities of flood flows resulting from suddenly breached storage dams. Predictions were compared with an analytical solution, with available numerical solutions using MacCormack's two-step explicit scheme and with experimental measurements. Agreement between predictions and measurements regarding the wave front advancement and stage hydrographs is considered to be satisfactory.     

An eigenvector‐based linear reconstruction scheme for the shallow‐water equations on two‐dimensional unstructured meshes

This paper presents a new approach to MUSCL reconstruction for solving the shallow‐water equations on two‐dimensional unstructured meshes. The approach takes advantage of the particular structure of the shallow‐water equations. Indeed, their hyperbolic nature allows the flow variables to be expressed as a linear combination of the eigenvectors of the system. The particularity of the shallow‐water equations is that the coefficients of this combination only depend upon the water depth. Reconstructing only the water depth with second‐order accuracy and using only a first‐order reconstruction for the flow velocity proves to be as accurate as the classical MUSCL approach. The method also appears to be more robust in cases with very strong depth gradients such as the propagation of a wave on a dry bed. Since only one reconstruction is needed (against three reconstructions in the MUSCL approach) the EVR method is shown to be 1.4–5 times as fast as the classical MUSCL scheme, depending on the computational application. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Shoreline tracking and implicit source terms for a well balanced inundation model

The HyFlux2 model has been developed to simulate severe inundation scenario due to dam break, flash flood and tsunami‐wave run‐up. The model solves the conservative form of the two‐dimensional shallow water equations using the finite volume method. The interface flux is computed by a Flux Vector Splitting method for shallow water equations based on a Godunov‐type approach. A second‐order scheme is applied to the water surface level and velocity, providing results with high accuracy and assuring the balance between fluxes and sources also for complex bathymetry and topography. Physical models are included to deal with bottom steps and shorelines. The second‐order scheme together with the shoreline‐tracking method and the implicit source term treatment makes the model well balanced in respect to mass and momentum conservation laws, providing reliable and robust results. The developed model is validated in this paper with a 2D numerical test case and with the Okushiri tsunami run up problem. It is shown that the HyFlux2 model is able to model inundation problems, with a satisfactory prediction of the major flow characteristics such as water depth, water velocity, flood extent, and flood‐wave arrival time. The results provided by the model are of great importance for the risk assessment and management. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An unstructured finite‐volume method for coupled models of suspended sediment and bed load transport in shallow‐water flows

The aim of this work is to develop a well‐balanced finite‐volume method for the accurate numerical solution of the equations governing suspended sediment and bed load transport in two‐dimensional shallow‐water flows. The modelling system consists of three coupled model components: (i) the shallow‐water equations for the hydrodynamical model; (ii) a transport equation for the dispersion of suspended sediments; and (iii) an Exner equation for the morphodynamics. These coupled models form a hyperbolic system of conservation laws with source terms. The proposed finite‐volume method consists of a predictor stage for the discretization of gradient terms and a corrector stage for the treatment of source terms. The gradient fluxes are discretized using a modified Roe's scheme using the sign of the Jacobian matrix in the coupled system. A well‐balanced discretization is used for the treatment of source terms. In this paper, we also employ an adaptive procedure in the finite‐volume method by monitoring the concentration of suspended sediments in the computational domain during its transport process. The method uses unstructured meshes and incorporates upwinded numerical fluxes and slope limiters to provide sharp resolution of steep sediment concentrations and bed load gradients that may form in the approximate solutions. Details are given on the implementation of the method, and numerical results are presented for two idealized test cases, which demonstrate the accuracy and robustness of the method and its applicability in predicting dam‐break flows over erodible sediment beds. The method is also applied to a sediment transport problem in the Nador lagoon.Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A finite volume shock‐capturing solver of the fully coupled shallow water‐sediment equations

This paper describes a numerical solver of well‐balanced, 2D depth‐averaged shallow water‐sediment equations. The equations permit variable horizontal fluid density and are designed to model water‐sediment flow over a mobile bed. A Godunov‐type, Harten–Lax–van Leer contact (HLLC) finite volume scheme is used to solve the fully coupled system of hyperbolic conservation laws that describe flow hydrodynamics, suspended sediment transport, bedload transport and bed morphological change. Dependent variables are specially selected to handle the presence of the variable density property in the mathematical formulation. The model is verified against analytical and semi‐analytical solutions for bedload transport and suspended sediment transport, respectively. The well‐balanced property of the equations is verified for a variable‐density dam break flow over discontinuous bathymetry. Simulations of an idealised dam‐break flow over an erodible bed are in excellent agreement with previously published results, validating the ability of the model to capture the complex interaction between rapidly varying flow and an erodible bed and validating the eigenstructure of the system of variable‐density governing equations. Flow hydrodynamics and final bed topography of a laboratory‐based 2D partial dam breach over a mobile bed are satisfactorily reproduced by the numerical model. Comparison of the final bed topographies, computed for two distinct sediment transport methods, highlights the sensitivity of shallow water‐sediment models to the choice of closure relationships. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A robust 2D shallow water model for solving flow over complex topography using homogenous flux method

A robust Godunov‐type numerical scheme solver is proposed for solving 2D SWEs and is applied to simulate flow over complex topography with wetting and drying. In reality, the topography is usually complex and irregular; therefore, to avoid the numerical errors generated by such features, a Homogenous Flux Method is used to handle the bed slope term in the SWEs. The method treats the bed slope term as a flux to be incorporated into the flux gradient and so maintains the balance between the two in a Godunov‐type shock‐capturing scheme. The main advantages of the method are: first, it is simple and easy to implement; second, numerical experiments demonstrate that it can handle discontinuous or vertical bed topography without any special treatment and third, it is applicable to both steady and unsteady flows. It is demonstrated how the approach set out here can be applied to the nonlinear hyperbolic system of the SWEs. The two‐dimensional hyperbolic system is then solved by use of a second‐order total‐variation‐diminishing version of the weighted average flux method in conjunction with a Harten‐Lax‐van Leer‐Contract approximate Riemann solver incorporating the new flux gradient term. Several benchmark tests are presented to validate the model and the approach is verified against experimental measurements from the European Union Concerted Action on Dam Break Modelling project. These show very good agreement. Finally, the method is applied to a volcano‐induced outburst flood over an initially dry channel with complex irregular topography to demonstrate the technique's capability in simulating a real flood. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Simulation of dam‐ and dyke‐break hydrodynamics on dynamically adaptive quadtree grids

Flooding due to the failure of a dam or dyke has potentially disastrous consequences. This paper presents a Godunov‐type finite volume solver of the shallow water equations based on dynamically adaptive quadtree grids. The Harten, Lax and van Leer approximate Riemann solver with the Contact wave restored (HLLC) scheme is used to evaluate interface fluxes in both wet‐ and dry‐bed applications. The numerical model is validated against results from alternative numerical models for idealized circular and rectangular dam breaks. Close agreement is achieved with experimental measurements from the CADAM dam break test and data from a laboratory dyke break undertaken at Delft University of Technology. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.     

Two‐dimensional dam break flow simulation

Numerical modelling of shallow water flow in two dimensions is presented in this work with the results obtained in dam break tests. Free surface flow in channels can be described mathematically by the shallow‐water system of equations. These equations have been discretized using an approach based on unstructured Delaunay triangles and applied to the simulation of two‐dimensional dam break flows. A cell centred finite volume method based on Roe's approximate Riemann solver across the edges of the cells is presented and the results are compared for first‐ and second‐order accuracy. Special treatment of the friction term has been adopted and will be described. The scheme is capable of handling complex flow domains as shown in the simulation corresponding to the test cases proposed, i.e. that of a dam break wave propagating into a 45° bend channel (UCL) and in a channel with a constriction (LNEC‐IST). Comparisons of experimental and numerical results are shown. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A modified lattice Boltzmann model for shallow water flows over complex topography

A modified lattice Boltzmann model is proposed to describe shallow water flows over complex topography. In the proposed model, the quadratic depth term is excluded from the equilibrium distribution functions (EDFs), and the hydrostatic pressure term is combined with the bed slope term to be treated as a part of the sourcing term in the lattice Boltzmann equation (LBE). Therefore, it is unnecessary to match the coefficients of the quadratic depth term in the EDFs with those of the bed slope term in the sourcing terms in the LBE. This would bring more flexibility to the treatment of the sourcing terms in the LBE. In order to recover the shallow water equations (SWEs), the basic constraints are redefined, and under these constraints, the coefficients of the EDFs are derived afterwards. Several benchmark problems are used to validate the proposed model, including stationary case, steady flows over a two‐dimensional bump and tidal wave flows over irregular bed elevation. The computed results are in excellent agreement with the results of the other numerical methods and the analytical solutions, indicating that the proposed model is capable of simulating shallow water flows over complex bathymetry. It also proves that the proposed model has potential to produce competitive solutions to shallow water flows over complex bed topography. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A numerical model for the flooding and drying of irregular domains

A numerical technique for the modelling of shallow water flow in one and two dimensions is presented in this work along with the results obtained in different applications involving unsteady flows in complex geometries. A cell‐centred finite volume method based on Roe's approximate Riemann solver across the edges of both structured and unstructured cells is presented. The discretization of the bed slope source terms is done following an upwind approach. In some applications a problem arises when the flow propagates over adverse dry bed slopes, so a special procedure has been introduced to model the advancing front. It is shown that this modification reproduces exactly steady state of still water in configurations with strong variations in bed slope and contour. The applications presented are mainly related with unsteady flow problems. The scheme is capable of handling complex flow domains as will be shown in the simulations corresponding to the test cases that are going to be presented. Comparisons of experimental and numerical results are shown for some of the tests. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Zero mass error using unsteady wetting–drying conditions in shallow flows over dry irregular topography

A wetting–drying condition (WDC) for unsteady shallow water flow in two dimensions leading to zero numerical error in mass conservation is presented in this work. Some applications are shown which demonstrate the effectiveness of the WDC in flood propagation and dam break flows over real geometries. The WDC has been incorporated into a cell centred finite volume method based on Roe's approximate Riemann solver across the edges of both structured and unstructured meshes. Previous wetting–drying condition based on steady‐state conditions lead to numerical errors in unsteady cases over configurations with strong variations on bed slope. A modification of the wetting–drying condition including the normal velocity to the cell edge enables to achieve zero numerical errors. The complete numerical technique is described in this work including source terms discretization as a complete and efficient 2D river flow simulation tool. Comparisons of experimental and numerical results are shown for some of the applications. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

SPH modelling of depth‐limited turbulent open channel flows over rough boundaries

A numerical model based on the smoothed particle hydrodynamics method is developed to simulate depth‐limited turbulent open channel flows over hydraulically rough beds. The 2D Lagrangian form of the Navier–Stokes equations is solved, in which a drag‐based formulation is used based on an effective roughness zone near the bed to account for the roughness effect of bed spheres and an improved sub‐particle‐scale model is applied to account for the effect of turbulence. The sub‐particle‐scale model is constructed based on the mixing‐length assumption rather than the standard Smagorinsky approach to compute the eddy‐viscosity. A robust in/out‐flow boundary technique is also proposed to achieve stable uniform flow conditions at the inlet and outlet boundaries where the flow characteristics are unknown. The model is applied to simulate uniform open channel flows over a rough bed composed of regular spheres and validated by experimental velocity data. To investigate the influence of the bed roughness on different flow conditions, data from 12 experimental tests with different bed slopes and uniform water depths are simulated, and a good agreement has been observed between the model and experimental results of the streamwise velocity and turbulent shear stress. This shows that both the roughness effect and flow turbulence should be addressed in order to simulate the correct mechanisms of turbulent flow over a rough bed boundary and that the presented smoothed particle hydrodynamics model accomplishes this successfully. © 2016 The Authors International Journal for Numerical Methods in Fluids Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd