A horizontally curvilinear non‐hydrostatic model for simulating nonlinear wave motion in curved boundaries

A horizontally curvilinear non‐hydrostatic free surface model that embeds the second‐order projection method, the so‐called θ scheme, in fractional time stepping is developed to simulate nonlinear wave motion in curved boundaries. The model solves the unsteady, Navier–Stokes equations in a three‐dimensional curvilinear domain by incorporating the kinematic free surface boundary condition with a top‐layer boundary condition, which has been developed to improve the numerical accuracy and efficiency of the non‐hydrostatic model in the standard staggered grid layout. The second‐order Adams–Bashforth scheme with the third‐order spatial upwind method is implemented in discretizing advection terms. Numerical accuracy in terms of nonlinear phase speed and amplitude is verified against the nonlinear Stokes wave theory over varying wave steepness in a two‐dimensional numerical wave tank. The model is then applied to investigate the nonlinear wave characteristics in the presence of dispersion caused by reflection and diffraction in a semicircular channel. The model results agree quantitatively with superimposed analytical solutions. Finally, the model is applied to simulate nonlinear wave run‐ups caused by wave‐body interaction around a bottom‐mounted cylinder. The numerical results exhibit good agreement with experimental data and the second‐order diffraction theory. Overall, it is shown that the developed model, with only three vertical layers, is capable of accurately simulating nonlinear waves interacting within curved boundaries. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Depth‐integrated free‐surface flow with a two‐layer non‐hydrostatic formulation

This paper presents the derivation of a depth‐integrated wave propagation and runup model from a system of governing equations for two‐layer non‐hydrostatic flows. The governing equations are transformed into an equivalent, depth‐integrated system, which separately describes the flux‐dominated and dispersion‐dominated processes. The depth‐integrated system reproduces the linear dispersion relation within a 5 error for water depth parameter up to kd = 11, while allowing direct implementation of a momentum conservation scheme to model wave breaking and a moving‐waterline technique for runup calculation. A staggered finite‐difference scheme discretizes the governing equations in the horizontal dimension and the Keller box scheme reconstructs the non‐hydrostatic terms in the vertical direction. An semi‐implicit scheme integrates the depth‐integrated flow in time with the non‐hydrostatic pressure determined from a Poisson‐type equation. The model is verified with solitary wave propagation in a channel of uniform depth and validated with previous laboratory experiments for wave transformation over a submerged bar, a plane beach, and fringing reefs. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Further experiences with computing non‐hydrostatic free‐surface flows involving water waves

A semi‐implicit, staggered finite volume technique for non‐hydrostatic, free‐surface flow governed by the incompressible Euler equations is presented that has a proper balance between accuracy, robustness and computing time. The procedure is intended to be used for predicting wave propagation in coastal areas. The splitting of the pressure into hydrostatic and non‐hydrostatic components is utilized. To ease the task of discretization and to enhance the accuracy of the scheme, a vertical boundary‐fitted co‐ordinate system is employed, permitting more resolution near the bottom as well as near the free surface. The issue of the implementation of boundary conditions is addressed. As recently proposed by the present authors, the Keller‐box scheme for accurate approximation of frequency wave dispersion requiring a limited vertical resolution is incorporated. The both locally and globally mass conserved solution is achieved with the aid of a projection method in the discrete sense. An efficient preconditioned Krylov subspace technique to solve the discretized Poisson equation for pressure correction with an unsymmetric matrix is treated. Some numerical experiments to show the accuracy, robustness and efficiency of the proposed method are presented. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An implicit three‐dimensional fully non‐hydrostatic model for free‐surface flows

An implicit method is developed for solving the complete three‐dimensional (3D) Navier–Stokes equations. The algorithm is based upon a staggered finite difference Crank‐Nicholson scheme on a Cartesian grid. A new top‐layer pressure treatment and a partial cell bottom treatment are introduced so that the 3D model is fully non‐hydrostatic and is free of any hydrostatic assumption. A domain decomposition method is used to segregate the resulting 3D matrix system into a series of two‐dimensional vertical plane problems, for each of which a block tri‐diagonal system can be directly solved for the unknown horizontal velocity. Numerical tests including linear standing waves, nonlinear sloshing motions, and progressive wave interactions with uneven bottoms are performed. It is found that the model is capable to simulate accurately a range of free‐surface flow problems using a very small number of vertical layers (e.g. two–four layers). The developed model is second‐order accuracy in time and space and is unconditionally stable; and it can be effectively used to model 3D surface wave motions. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An efficient and accurate non‐hydrostatic model with embedded Boussinesq‐type like equations for surface wave modeling

A novel approach that embeds the Boussinesq‐type like equations into an implicit non‐hydrostatic model (NHM) is developed. Instead of using an integration approach, Boussinesq‐type like equations with a reference velocity under a virtual grid system are introduced to analytically obtain an analytical form of pressure distribution at the top layer. To determine the size of vertical layers in the model, a top‐layer control technique is proposed and the reference location is employed to optimize linear wave dispersion property. The efficiency and accuracy of this NHM with Boussinesq‐type like equations (NHM‐BTE) are critically examined through four free‐surface wave examples. Overall model results show that NHM‐BTE using only two vertical layers is capable of accurately simulating highly dispersive wave motion and wave transformation over irregular bathymetry. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An implicit two‐dimensional non‐hydrostatic model for free‐surface flows

An implicit finite volume model in sigma coordinate system is developed to simulate two‐dimensional (2D) vertical free surface flows, deploying a non‐hydrostatic pressure distribution. The algorithm is based on a projection method which solves the complete 2D Navier–Stokes equations in two steps. First the pressure term in the momentum equations is excluded and the resultant advection–diffusion equations are solved. In the second step the continuity and the momentum equation with only the pressure terms are solved to give a block tri‐diagonal system of equation with pressure as the unknown. This system can be solved by a direct matrix solver without iteration. A new implicit treatment of non‐hydrostatic pressure, similar to the lower layers is applied to the top layer which makes the model free of any hydrostatic pressure assumption all through the water column. This treatment enables the model to evaluate both free surface elevation and wave celerity more accurately. A series of numerical tests including free‐surface flows with significant vertical accelerations and nonlinear behaviour in shoaling zone are performed. Comparison between numerical results, analytical solutions and experimental data demonstrates a satisfactory performance. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A semi‐implicit finite element model for non‐hydrostatic (dispersive) surface waves

The objective of this research is to develop a model that will adequately simulate the dynamics of tsunami propagating across the continental shelf. In practical terms, a large spatial domain with high resolution is required so that source areas and runup areas are adequately resolved. Hence efficiency of the model is a major issue. The three‐dimensional Reynolds averaged Navier–Stokes equations are depth‐averaged to yield a set of equations that are similar to the shallow water equations but retain the non‐hydrostatic pressure terms. This approach differs from the development of the Boussinesq equations where pressure is eliminated in favour of high‐order velocity and geometry terms. The model gives good results for several test problems including an oscillating basin, propagation of a solitary wave, and a wave transformation over a bar. The hydrostatic and non‐hydrostatic versions of the model are compared for a large‐scale problem where a fault rupture generates a tsunami on the New Zealand continental shelf. The model efficiency is also very good and execution times are about a factor of 1.8 to 5 slower than the standard shallow water model, depending on problem size. Moreover, there are at least two methods to increase model accuracy when warranted: choosing a more optimal vertical interpolation function, and dividing the problem into layers. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An implicit numerical algorithm for solving non‐hydrostatic free‐surface flow problems

Details are given of the development of a two‐dimensional vertical numerical model for simulating unsteady free‐surface flows, using a non‐hydrostatic pressure distribution. In this model, the Reynolds equations and the kinematic free‐surface boundary condition are solved simultaneously, so that the water surface elevation can be integrated into the solution and solved for, together with the velocity and pressure fields. An efficient numerical algorithm has been developed, deploying implicit parameters similar to those used in the Crank–Nicholson method, and generating a block tri‐diagonal algebraic system of equations. The model has been applied to simulate a range of unsteady flow problems involving relatively strong vertical accelerations. The results show that the numerical algorithm described is able to produce accurate predictions and is also easy to apply. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A new fully non‐hydrostatic 3D free surface flow model for water wave motions

A new fully non‐hydrostatic model is presented by simulating three‐dimensional free surface flow on a vertical boundary‐fitted coordinate system. A projection method, known as pressure correction technique, is employed to solve the incompressible Euler equations. A new grid arrangement is proposed under a horizontal Cartesian grid framework and vertical boundary‐fitted coordinate system. The resulting model is relatively simple. Moreover, the discretized Poisson equation for pressure correction is symmetric and positive definite, and thus it can be solved effectively by the preconditioned conjugate gradient method. Several test cases of surface wave motion are used to demonstrate the capabilities and numerical stability of the model. Comparisons between numerical results and analytical or experimental data are presented. It is shown that the proposed model could accurately and effectively resolve the motion of short waves with only two layers, where wave shoaling, nonlinearity, dispersion, refraction, and diffraction phenomena occur. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Non‐hydrostatic 3D free surface layer‐structured finite volume model for short wave propagation

In this paper a layer‐structured finite volume model for non‐hydrostatic 3D environmental free surface flow is presented and applied to several test cases, which involve the computation of gravity waves. The 3D unsteady momentum and mass conservation equations are solved in a collocated grid made of polyhedrons, which are built from a 2D horizontal unstructured mesh, by just adding several horizontal layers. The mesh built in such a way is unstructured in the horizontal plane, but structured in the vertical direction. This procedure simplifies the mesh generation and at the same time it produces a well‐oriented mesh for stratified flows, which are common in environmental problems. The model reduces to a 2D depth‐averaged shallow water model when one single layer is defined in the mesh. Pressure–velocity coupling is achieved by the Semi‐Implicit Method for Pressure‐Linked Equations algorithm, using Rhie–Chow interpolation to stabilize the pressure field. An attractive property of the model proposed is the ability to compute the propagation of short waves with a rather coarse vertical discretization. Several test cases are solved in order to show the capabilities and numerical stability of the model, including a rectangular free oscillating basin, a radially symmetric wave, short wave propagation over a 1D bar, solitary wave runup on a vertical wall, and short wave refraction over a 2D shoal. In all the cases the numerical results are compared either with analytical or with experimental data. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A numerical method for the determination of weakly non‐hydrostatic non‐linear free surface wave propagation

A numerical method is described that may be used to determine the propagation characteristics of weakly non‐hydrostatic non‐linear free surface waves over a general, bottom topography. In shallow water of constant undisturbed depth, such waves are equivalent to the familiar cnoidal waves characterized by sharp crests and relatively flat troughs. For a certain range of parameters, these propagate without change of form by virtue of the weakly non‐hydrostatic balance in the vertical momentum equation. Effectively, this counters the tendency for the non‐linearity in a purely hydrostatic theory to lead to a continuously deforming surface wave profile. The realistic representation furnished by cnoidal wave theory of free surface waves in the shallow near‐shore zone has led to its utilization in evaluating their propagation characteristics. Nonetheless, the classic analytical theory is inapplicable to the case of wave propagation over a sloping beach or off‐shore sand bar topography. Under these conditions, a local change in form of the surface wave profile is anticipated before the waves break and knowing this is required in order to evaluate fully the propagation process. The efficacy of the numerical method is first demonstrated by comparing the solution for water of constant depth with the evaluation of the analytical solution expressed in terms of the Jacobian elliptic function cn. The general method described in the paper is then illustrated by experiments to determine the change in profile of weakly non‐hydrostatic non‐linear surface waves propagating over bed forms representative of those found in shallow coastal seas. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Parallel implementation of a non‐hydrostatic model for free surface flows with semi‐Lagrangian advection treatment

The parallel implementation of an unstructured‐grid, three‐dimensional, semi‐implicit finite difference and finite volume model for the free surface Navier–Stokes equations (UnTRIM ) is presented and discussed. The new developments are aimed to make the code available for high‐performance computing in order to address larger, complex problems in environmental free surface flows. The parallelization is based on the mesh partitioning method and message passing and has been achieved without negatively affecting any of the advantageous properties of the serial code, such as its robustness, accuracy and efficiency. The key issue is a new, autonomous parallel streamline backtracking algorithm, which allows using semi‐Lagrangian methods in decomposed meshes without compromising the scalability of the code. The implementation has been carefully verified not only with simple, abstract test cases illustrating the application domain of the code but also with advanced, high‐resolution models presently applied for research and engineering projects. The scheme performance and accuracy aspects are researched and discussed. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Three‐dimensional numerical modelling of free surface flows with non‐hydrostatic pressure

A three‐dimensional numerical model is developed for incompressible free surface flows. The model is based on the unsteady Reynolds‐averaged Navier–Stokes equations with a non‐hydrostatic pressure distribution being incorporated in the model. The governing equations are solved in the conventional sigma co‐ordinate system, with a semi‐implicit time discretization. A fractional step method is used to enable the pressure to be decomposed into its hydrostatic and hydrodynamic components. At every time step one five‐diagonal system of equations is solved to compute the water elevations and then the hydrodynamic pressure is determined from a pressure Poisson equation. The model is applied to three examples to simulate unsteady free surface flows where non‐hydrostatic pressures have a considerable effect on the velocity field. Emphasis is focused on applying the model to wave problems. Two of the examples are about modelling small amplitude waves where the hydrostatic approximation and long wave theory are not valid. The other example is the wind‐induced circulation in a closed basin. The numerical solutions are compared with the available analytical solutions for small amplitude wave theory and very good agreement is obtained. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A depth‐integrated non‐hydrostatic finite element model for wave propagation

This paper presents a two‐dimensional finite element model for simulating dynamic propagation of weakly dispersive waves. Shallow water equations including extra non‐hydrostatic pressure terms and a depth‐integrated vertical momentum equation are solved with linear distributions assumed in the vertical direction for the non‐hydrostatic pressure and the vertical velocity. The model is developed based on the platform of a finite element model, CCHE2D. A physically bounded upwind scheme for the advection term discretization is developed, and the quasi second‐order differential operators of this scheme result in no oscillation and little numerical diffusion. The depth‐integrated non‐hydrostatic wave model is solved semi‐implicitly: the provisional flow velocity is first implicitly solved using the shallow water equations; the non‐hydrostatic pressure, which is implicitly obtained by ensuring a divergence‐free velocity field, is used to correct the provisional velocity, and finally the depth‐integrated continuity equation is explicitly solved to satisfy global mass conservation. The developed wave model is verified by an analytical solution and validated by laboratory experiments, and the computed results show that the wave model can properly handle linear and nonlinear dispersive waves, wave shoaling, diffraction, refraction and focusing. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A σ‐coordinate non‐hydrostatic model with embedded Boussinesq‐type‐like equations for modeling deep‐water waves

A σ‐coordinate non‐hydrostatic model, combined with the embedded Boussinesq‐type‐like equations, a reference velocity, and an adapted top‐layer control, is developed to study the evolution of deep‐water waves. The advantage of using the Boussinesq‐type‐like equations with the reference velocity is to provide an analytical‐based non‐hydrostatic pressure distribution at the top‐layer and to optimize wave dispersion property. The σ‐based non‐hydrostatic model naturally tackles the so‐called overshooting issue in the case of non‐linear steep waves. Efficiency and accuracy of this non‐hydrostatic model in terms of wave dispersion and nonlinearity are critically examined. Overall results show that the newly developed model using a few layers is capable of resolving the evolution of non‐linear deep‐water wave groups. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Three‐dimensional modeling of non‐hydrostatic free‐surface flows on unstructured grids

A three‐dimensional numerical model is presented for the simulation of unsteady non‐hydrostatic shallow water flows on unstructured grids using the finite volume method. The free surface variations are modeled by a characteristics‐based scheme, which simulates sub‐critical and super‐critical flows. Three‐dimensional velocity components are considered in a collocated arrangement with a σ‐coordinate system. A special treatment of the pressure term is developed to avoid the water surface oscillations. Convective and diffusive terms are approximated explicitly, and an implicit discretization is used for the pressure term to ensure exact mass conservation. The unstructured grid in the horizontal direction and the σ coordinate in the vertical direction facilitate the use of the model in complicated geometries. Solution of the non‐hydrostatic equations enables the model to simulate short‐period waves and vertically circulating flows. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A 3‐D non‐hydrostatic pressure model for small amplitude free surface flows

A three‐dimensional, non‐hydrostatic pressure, numerical model with k–ε equations for small amplitude free surface flows is presented. By decomposing the pressure into hydrostatic and non‐hydrostatic parts, the numerical model uses an integrated time step with two fractional steps. In the first fractional step the momentum equations are solved without the non‐hydrostatic pressure term, using Newton's method in conjunction with the generalized minimal residual (GMRES) method so that most terms can be solved implicitly. This method only needs the product of a Jacobian matrix and a vector rather than the Jacobian matrix itself, limiting the amount of storage and significantly decreasing the overall computational time required. In the second step the pressure–Poisson equation is solved iteratively with a preconditioned linear GMRES method. It is shown that preconditioning reduces the central processing unit (CPU) time dramatically. In order to prevent pressure oscillations which may arise in collocated grid arrangements, transformed velocities are defined at cell faces by interpolating velocities at grid nodes. After the new pressure field is obtained, the intermediate velocities, which are calculated from the previous fractional step, are updated. The newly developed model is verified against analytical solutions, published results, and experimental data, with excellent agreement. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A semi‐implicit finite difference method for non‐hydrostatic,free‐surface flows

In this paper a semi‐implicit finite difference model for non‐hydrostatic, free‐surface flows is analyzed and discussed. It is shown that the present algorithm is generally more accurate than recently developed models for quasi‐hydrostatic flows. The governing equations are the free‐surface Navier–Stokes equations defined on a general, irregular domain of arbitrary scale. The momentum equations, the incompressibility condition and the equation for the free‐surface are integrated by a semi‐implicit algorithm in such a fashion that the resulting numerical solution is mass conservative and unconditionally stable with respect to the gravity wave speed, wind stress, vertical viscosity and bottom friction. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.