High‐order semi‐implicit time‐integrators for a triangular discontinuous Galerkin oceanic shallow water model

We extend the explicit in time high‐order triangular discontinuous Galerkin (DG) method to semi‐implicit (SI) and then apply the algorithm to the two‐dimensional oceanic shallow water equations; we implement high‐order SI time‐integrators using the backward difference formulas from orders one to six. The reason for changing the time‐integration method from explicit to SI is that explicit methods require a very small time step in order to maintain stability, especially for high‐order DG methods. Changing the time‐integration method to SI allows one to circumvent the stability criterion due to the gravity waves, which for most shallow water applications are the fastest waves in the system (the exception being supercritical flow where the Froude number is greater than one). The challenge of constructing a SI method for a DG model is that the DG machinery requires not only the standard finite element‐type area integrals, but also the finite volume‐type boundary integrals as well. These boundary integrals pose the biggest challenge in a SI discretization because they require the construction of a Riemann solver that is the true linear representation of the nonlinear Riemann problem; if this condition is not satisfied then the resulting numerical method will not be consistent with the continuous equations. In this paper we couple the SI time‐integrators with the DG method while maintaining most of the usual attributes associated with DG methods such as: high‐order accuracy (in both space and time), parallel efficiency, excellent stability, and conservation. The only property lost is that of a compact communication stencil typical of time‐explicit DG methods; implicit methods will always require a much larger communication stencil. We apply the new high‐order SI DG method to the shallow water equations and show results for many standard test cases of oceanic interest such as: standing, Kelvin and Rossby soliton waves, and the Stommel problem. The results show that the new high‐order SI DG model, that has already been shown to yield exponentially convergent solutions in space for smooth problems, results in a more efficient model than its explicit counterpart. Furthermore, for those problems where the spatial resolution is sufficiently high compared with the length scales of the flow, the capacity to use high‐order (HO) time‐integrators is a necessary complement to the employment of HO space discretizations, since the total numerical error would be otherwise dominated by the time discretization error. In fact, in the limit of increasing spatial resolution, it makes little sense to use HO spatial discretizations coupled with low‐order time discretizations. Published in 2009 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Lagrange–Galerkin method for the two‐dimensional shallow water equations on adaptive grids

The weak Lagrange–Galerkin finite element method for the two‐dimensional shallow water equations on adaptive unstructured grids is presented. The equations are written in conservation form and the domains are discretized using triangular elements. Lagrangian methods integrate the governing equations along the characteristic curves, thus being well suited for resolving the non‐linearities introduced by the advection operator of the fluid dynamics equations. An additional fortuitous consequence of using Lagrangian methods is that the resulting spatial operator is self‐adjoint, thereby justifying the use of a Galerkin formulation; this formulation has been proven to be optimal for such differential operators. The weak Lagrange–Galerkin method automatically takes into account the dilation of the control volume, thereby resulting in a conservative scheme. The use of linear triangular elements permits the construction of accurate (by virtue of the second‐order spatial and temporal accuracies of the scheme) and efficient (by virtue of the less stringent Courant–Friedrich–Lewy (CFL) condition of Lagrangian methods) schemes on adaptive unstructured triangular grids. Lagrangian methods are natural candidates for use with adaptive unstructured grids because the resolution of the grid can be increased without having to decrease the time step in order to satisfy stability. An advancing front adaptive unstructured triangular mesh generator is presented. The highlight of this algorithm is that the weak Lagrange–Galerkin method is used to project the conservation variables from the old mesh onto the newly adapted mesh. In addition, two new schemes for computing the characteristic curves are presented: a composite mid‐point rule and a general family of Runge–Kutta schemes. Results for the two‐dimensional advection equation with and without time‐dependent velocity fields are illustrated to confirm the accuracy of the particle trajectories. Results for the two‐dimensional shallow water equations on a non‐linear soliton wave are presented to illustrate the power and flexibility of this strategy. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Two‐dimensional dispersion analyses of finite element approximations to the shallow water equations

Dispersion analysis of discrete solutions to the shallow water equations has been extensively used as a tool to define the relationships between frequency and wave number and to determine if an algorithm leads to a dual wave number response and near 2Δx oscillations. In this paper, we explore the application of two‐dimensional dispersion analysis to cluster based and Galerkin finite element‐based discretizations of the primitive shallow water equations and the generalized wave continuity equation (GWCE) reformulation of the harmonic shallow water equations on a number of grid configurations. It is demonstrated that for various algorithms and grid configurations, contradictions exist between the results of one‐dimensional and two‐dimensional dispersion analysis as a result of subtle changes in the mass matrix. Numerical experiments indicate that the two‐dimensional dispersion analysis correctly predicts the existence and onset of near 2Δx noise in the solution. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Well‐balancing issues related to the RKDG2 scheme for the shallow water equations

Discontinuous Galerkin (DG) finite element methods have salient features that are mainly highlighted by their locality, their easiness in balancing the flux and source term gradients and their component‐wise structure. In the light of this, this paper aims to provide insights into the well‐balancing property of a second‐order Runge–Kutta Discontinuous Galerkin (RKDG2) method. For this purpose, a Godunov‐type RKDG2 method is presented for solving the shallow water equations. The scheme is based on local DG linear approximations and does not entail any special treatment of the source terms in order to achieve well‐balanced numerical results. The performance of the present RKDG2 scheme in reproducing conserved solutions for both free surface and discharge over strongly irregular topography is demonstrated by applying to several hydraulic benchmarks. Meanwhile, the effects of different slope limiting procedures on the well‐balancing property are investigated and discussed. This work may provide useful guidelines for developing a well‐balanced RKDG2 numerical scheme for shallow water flow simulation. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Raviart–Thomas and Brezzi–Douglas–Marini finite‐element approximations of the shallow‐water equations

An analysis of the discrete shallow‐water equations using the Raviart–Thomas and Brezzi–Douglas–Marini finite elements is presented. For inertia–gravity waves, the discrete formulations are obtained and the dispersion relations are computed in order to quantify the dispersive nature of the schemes on two meshes made up of equilateral and biased triangles. A linear algebra approach is also used to ascertain the possible presence of spurious modes arising from the discretization. The geostrophic balance is examined and the smallest representable vortices are characterized on both structured and unstructured meshes. Numerical solutions of two test problems to simulate gravity and Rossby modes are in good agreement with the analytical results. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Compatibility between finite volumes and finite elements using solutions of shallow water equations for substance transport

This paper formulates a finite volume analogue of a finite element schematization of three‐dimensional shallow water equations. The resulting finite volume schematization, when applied to the continuity equation, exactly reproduces the set of matrix equations that is obtained by the application of the corresponding finite element schematization to the continuity equation. The procedure allows the consistent and mass conserving coupling of the finite element Telemac model for three‐dimensional flow with the finite volume Delft3D‐WAQ model for water quality. The work has been carried out as part of a joint development by LNHE and WL∣Delft Hydraulics to explore the mutual interaction of their software. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A modified Galerkin/finite element method for the numerical solution of the Serre‐Green‐Naghdi system

A new modified Galerkin/finite element method is proposed for the numerical solution of the fully nonlinear shallow water wave equations. The new numerical method allows the use of low‐order Lagrange finite element spaces, despite the fact that the system contains third order spatial partial derivatives for the depth averaged velocity of the fluid. After studying the efficacy and the conservation properties of the new numerical method, we proceed with the validation of the new numerical model and boundary conditions by comparing the numerical solutions with laboratory experiments and with available theoretical asymptotic results. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An upstream flux‐splitting finite‐volume scheme for 2D shallow water equations

An upstream flux‐splitting finite‐volume (UFF) scheme is proposed for the solutions of the 2D shallow water equations. In the framework of the finite‐volume method, the artificially upstream flux vector splitting method is employed to establish the numerical flux function for the local Riemann problem. Based on this algorithm, an UFF scheme without Jacobian matrix operation is developed. The proposed scheme satisfying entropy condition is extended to be second‐order‐accurate using the MUSCL approach. The proposed UFF scheme and its second‐order extension are verified through the simulations of four shallow water problems, including the 1D idealized dam breaking, the oblique hydraulic jump, the circular dam breaking, and the dam‐break experiment with 45° bend channel. Meanwhile, the numerical performance of the UFF scheme is compared with those of three well‐known upwind schemes, namely the Osher, Roe, and HLL schemes. It is demonstrated that the proposed scheme performs remarkably well for shallow water flows. The simulated results also show that the UFF scheme has superior overall numerical performances among the schemes tested. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Improvements in mass conservation using alternative boundary implementations for a quasi‐bubble finite element shallow water model

Finite element approaches generally do not guarantee exact satisfaction of conservation laws especially when Dirichlet‐type boundary conditions are imposed. This article discusses improvement of the global mass conservation property of quasi‐bubble finite element solutions for the shallow water equations, focusing on implementations of the surface‐elevation boundary conditions. We propose two alternative implementations, which are shown by numerical verification to be effective in improving the smoothness of solutions near the boundary and in reducing the mass conservation error. The improvement of the mass conservation property contributes to augmenting the reliability and robustness of long‐term time integrations. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A mixed‐interpolation finite element method for incompressible thermal flows of electrically conducting fluids

A new mixed‐interpolation finite element method is presented for the two‐dimensional numerical simulation of incompressible magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) flows which involve convective heat transfer. The proposed method applies the nodal shape functions, which are locally defined in nine‐node elements, for the discretization of the Navier–Stokes and energy equations, and the vector shape functions, which are locally defined in four‐node elements, for the discretization of the electromagnetic field equations. The use of the vector shape functions allows the solenoidal condition on the magnetic field to be automatically satisfied in each four‐node element. In addition, efficient approximation procedures for the calculation of the integrals in the discretized equations are adopted to achieve high‐speed computation. With the use of the proposed numerical scheme, MHD channel flow and MHD natural convection under a constant applied magnetic field are simulated at different Hartmann numbers. The accuracy and robustness of the method are verified through these numerical tests in which both undistorted and distorted meshes are employed for comparison of numerical solutions. Furthermore, it is shown that the calculation speed for the proposed scheme is much higher compared with that for a conventional numerical integration scheme under the condition of almost the same memory consumption. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A kinetic energy preserving nodal discontinuous Galerkin spectral element method

In this work, we discuss the construction of a skew‐symmetric discontinuous Galerkin (DG) collocation spectral element approximation for the compressible Euler equations. Starting from the skew‐symmetric formulation of Morinishi, we mimic the continuous derivations on a discrete level to find a formulation for the conserved variables. In contrast to finite difference methods, DG formulations naturally have inter‐domain surface flux contributions due to the discontinuous nature of the approximation space. Thus, throughout the derivations we accurately track the influence of the surface fluxes to arrive at a consistent formulation also for the surface terms. The resulting novel skew‐symmetric method differs from the standard DG scheme by additional volume terms. Those volume terms have a special structure and basically represent the discretization error of the different product rules. We use the summation‐by‐parts (SBP) property of the Gauss–Lobatto‐based DG operator and show that the novel formulation is exactly conservative for the mass, momentum, and energy. Finally, an analysis of the kinetic energy balance of the standard DG discretization shows that because of aliasing errors, a nonzero transport source term in the evolution of the discrete kinetic energy mean value may lead to an inconsistent increase or decrease in contrast to the skew‐symmetric formulation. Furthermore, we derive a suitable interface flux that guarantees kinetic energy preservation in combination with the skew‐symmetric DG formulation. As all derivations require only the SBP property of the Gauss–Lobatto‐based DG collocation spectral element method operator and that the mass matrix is diagonal, all results for the surface terms can be directly applied in the context of multi‐domain diagonal norm SBP finite difference methods. Numerical experiments are conducted to demonstrate the theoretical findings. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A coupled continuous and discontinuous finite element method for the incompressible flows

In this paper, we develop a coupled continuous Galerkin and discontinuous Galerkin finite element method based on a split scheme to solve the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations. In order to use the equal order interpolation functions for velocity and pressure, we decouple the original Navier–Stokes equations and obtain three distinct equations through the split method, which are nonlinear hyperbolic, elliptic, and Helmholtz equations, respectively. The hybrid method combines the merits of discontinuous Galerkin (DG) and finite element method (FEM). Therefore, DG is concerned to accomplish the spatial discretization of the nonlinear hyperbolic equation to avoid using the stabilization approaches that appeared in FEM. Moreover, FEM is utilized to deal with the Poisson and Helmholtz equations to reduce the computational cost compared with DG. As for the temporal discretization, a second‐order stiffly stable approach is employed. Several typical benchmarks, namely, the Poiseuille flow, the backward‐facing step flow, and the flow around the cylinder with a wide range of Reynolds numbers, are considered to demonstrate and validate the feasibility, accuracy, and efficiency of this coupled method. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Development of new finite volume schemes on unstructured triangular grid for simulating the gas–liquid two‐phase flow

This paper presents a coupled finite volume inner doubly iterative efficient algorithm for linked equations (IDEAL) with level set method to simulate the incompressible gas–liquid two‐phase flows with moving interfaces on unstructured triangular grid. The finite volume IDEAL method on a collocated grid is employed to solve the incompressible two‐phase Navier–Stokes equations, and the level set method is used to capture the moving interfaces. For the sake of mass conservation, an effective second‐order accurate finite volume scheme is developed to solve the level set equation on triangular grid, which can be implemented much easier than the classical high‐order level set solvers. In this scheme, the value of level set function on the boundary of control volume is approximated using a linear combination of a high‐order Larangian interpolation and a second‐order upwind interpolation. By the rotating slotted disk and stretching and shrinking of a circular fluid element benchmark cases, the mass conservation and accuracy of the new scheme is verified. Then the coupled method is applied to two‐phase flows, including a 2D bubble rising problem and a 2D dam breaking problem. The computational results agree well with those reported in literatures and experimental data. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A stabilized finite element formulation for high‐speed inviscid compressible flows using finite calculus

This paper aims at the development of a new stabilization formulation based on the finite calculus (FIC) scheme for solving the Euler equations using the Galerkin FEM on unstructured triangular grids. The FIC method is based on expressing the balance of fluxes in a space–time domain of finite size. It is used to prevent the creation of instabilities typically present in numerical solutions due to the high convective terms and sharp gradients. Two stabilization terms, respectively called streamline term and transverse term, are added via the FIC formulation to the original conservative equations in the space–time domain. An explicit fourth‐order Runge–Kutta scheme is implemented to advance the solution in time. The presented numerical test examples for inviscid flows prove the ability of the proposed stabilization technique for providing appropriate solutions especially near shock waves. Although the derived methodology delivers precise results with a nearly coarse mesh, a mesh refinement technique is coupled to the solution process for obtaining a suitable mesh particularly in the high‐gradient zones. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A comparative study of GLS finite elements with velocity and pressure equally interpolated for solving incompressible viscous flows

A comparative study of the bi‐linear and bi‐quadratic quadrilateral elements and the quadratic triangular element for solving incompressible viscous flows is presented. These elements make use of the stabilized finite element formulation of the Galerkin/least‐squares method to simulate the flows, with the pressure and velocity fields interpolated with equal orders. The tangent matrices are explicitly derived and the Newton–Raphson algorithm is employed to solve the resulting nonlinear equations. The numerical solutions of the classical lid‐driven cavity flow problem are obtained for Reynolds numbers between 1000 and 20 000 and the accuracy and converging rate of the different elements are compared. The influence on the numerical solution of the least square of incompressible condition is also studied. The numerical example shows that the quadratic triangular element exhibits a better compromise between accuracy and converging rate than the other two elements. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A finite element/volume method model of the depth‐averaged horizontally 2D shallow water equations

Analysis of surface water flows is of central importance in understanding and predicting a wide range of water engineering issues. Dynamics of surface water is reasonably well described using the shallow water equations (SWEs) with the hydrostatic pressure assumption. The SWEs are nonlinear hyperbolic partial differential equations that are in general required to be solved numerically. Application of a simple and efficient numerical model is desirable for solving the SWEs in practical problems. This study develops a new numerical model of the depth‐averaged horizontally 2D SWEs referred to as 2D finite element/volume method (2D FEVM) model. The continuity equation is solved with the conforming, standard Galerkin FEM scheme and momentum equations with an upwind, cell‐centered finite volume method scheme, utilizing the water surface elevation and the line discharges as unknowns aligned in a staggered manner. The 2D FEVM model relies on neither Riemann solvers nor high‐resolution algorithms in order to serve as a simple numerical model. Water at a rest state is exactly preserved in the model. A fully explicit temporal integration is achieved in the model using an efficient approximate matrix inversion method. A series of test problems, containing three benchmark problems and three experiments of transcritical flows, are carried out to assess accuracy and versatility of the model. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effect of the order of the finite element and selection of the constrained modes in deformable body dynamics

Finite elements with different orders can be used in the analysis of constrained deformable bodies that undergo large rigid body displacements. The constrained mode shapes resulting from the use of finite elements with different orders differ in the way the stiffness of the body bending and extension are defined. The constrained modes also depend on the selection of the boundary conditions. Using the same type of finite element, different sets of boundary conditions lead to different sets of constrained modes. In this investigation, the effect of the order of the element as well as the selection of the constrained mode shapes is examined numerically. To this end, the constant strain three node triangular element and the quadratic six node triangular element are used. The results obtained using the three node triangular element are compared with the higher order six node triangular element. The equations of motion for the three and six node triangular elements are formulated from assumed linear and quadratic displacement fields, respectively. Both assumed displacement fields can describe large rigid body translational and rotational displacements. Consequently, the dynamic formulation presented in this investigation can also be used in the large deformation analysis. Using the finite element displacement field, the mass, stiffness, and inertia invariants of the three and six-node triangular elements are formulated. Standard finite element assembly techniques are used to formulate the differential equations of motion for mechanical systems consisting of interconnected deformable bodies. Using a multibody four bar mechanism, numerical results of the different elements and their respective performance are presented. These results indicate that the three node triangular element does not perform well in bending modes of deformation.     

Finite analytic boundary condition for a higher‐order finite analytic scheme

A higher‐order finite analytic scheme based on one‐dimensional finite analytic solutions is used to discretize three‐dimensional equations governing turbulent incompressible free surface flow. In order to preserve the accuracy of the numerical scheme, a new, finite analytic boundary condition is proposed for an accurate numerical solution of the partial differential equation. This condition has higher‐order accuracy. Thus, the same order of accuracy is used for the boundary. Boundary conditions were formulated and derived for fluid inflow, outflow, impermeable surfaces and symmetry planes. The derived boundary conditions are treated implicitly and updated with the solution of the problem. The basic idea for the derivation of boundary conditions was to use the discretized form of the governing equations for the fluid flow simplified on the boundaries and flow information. To illustrate the influence of the higher‐order effects at the boundaries, another, lower‐order finite analytic boundary condition, is suggested. The simulations are performed to demonstrate the validity of the present scheme and boundary conditions for a Wigley hull advancing in calm water. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Stabilized finite‐element computation of compressible flow with linear and quadratic interpolation functions

The unsteady compressible flow equations are solved using a stabilized finite‐element formulation with C⁰ elements. In 2D, the performance of three‐noded linear and six‐noded quadratic triangular elements is compared. In 3D, the relative performance is evaluated for 6‐noded linear and 18‐noded quadratic wedge elements. Results are compared for the solutions to Euler, laminar, and turbulent flows at different Mach numbers for several flow problems. The finite‐element meshes considered for comparison have same location of nodes for the linear and quadratic interpolations. For the turbulent flow, the Spalart–Allmaras model is used for closure. It is found that the quadratic elements yield better performance than the linear elements. This is attributed to accurate representation of the stabilization terms that involve second‐order derivatives in the formulation. When these terms are dropped from the formulation with quadratic interpolation, the numerical results are similar to those obtained with linear interpolation. The absence of these terms result in added numerical diffusion that seems to give the effect of a relatively reduced Reynolds number. For the same location of nodes, the computations with the linear triangular and wedge elements are approximately 20% and 100% faster than those with quadratic triangular and wedge elements, respectively. However, if the same quadrature rule for numerical integration is used for both interpolations, the computations with quadratic elements are approximately 20% and 45% faster in 2D and 3D, respectively. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A locally conservative,discontinuous least‐squares finite element method for the Stokes equations

Conventional least‐squares finite element methods (LSFEMs) for incompressible flows conserve mass only approximately. For some problems, mass loss levels are large and result in unphysical solutions. In this paper we formulate a new, locally conservative LSFEM for the Stokes equations wherein a discrete velocity field is computed that is point‐wise divergence free on each element. The central idea is to allow discontinuous velocity approximations and then to define the velocity field on each element using a local stream‐function. The effect of the new LSFEM approach on improved local and global mass conservation is compared with a conventional LSFEM for the Stokes equations employing standard C⁰ Lagrangian elements. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.