A conservative semi‐implicit method for coupled surface–subsurface flows in regional scale

A semi‐implicit method for coupled surface–subsurface flows in regional scale is proposed and analyzed. The flow domain is assumed to have a small vertical scale as compared with the horizontal extents. Thus, after hydrostatic approximation, the simplified governing equations are derived from the Reynolds averaged Navier–Stokes equations for the surface flow and from the Darcy's law for the subsurface flow. A conservative free‐surface equation is derived from a vertical integral of the incompressibility condition and extends to the whole water column including both, the surface and the subsurface, wet domains. Numerically, the horizontal domain is covered by an unstructured orthogonal grid that may include subgrid specifications. Along the vertical direction a simple z‐layer discretization is adopted. Semi‐implicit finite difference equations for velocities and a finite volume approximation for the free‐surface equation are derived in such a fashion that, after simple manipulation, the resulting discrete free‐surface equation yields a single, well‐posed, mildly nonlinear system. This system is efficiently solved by a nested Newton‐type iterative method that yields simultaneously the pressure and a non‐negative fluid volume throughout the computational grid. The time‐step size is not restricted by stability conditions dictated by friction or surface wave speed. The resulting algorithm is simple, extremely efficient, and very accurate. Exact mass conservation is assured also in presence of wetting and drying dynamics, in pressurized flow conditions, and during free‐surface transition through the interface. A few examples illustrate the model applicability and demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A semi‐implicit numerical model for urban drainage systems

In this paper, a semi‐implicit numerical model for one‐dimensional urban drainage networks is formulated in such a fashion as to intrinsically account for arbitrary cross sections, for the occurrence of dry areas, for free surface, and for pressurized flows. The governing differential equations are discretized with a consistent mass conservative scheme that naturally applies to all flow regimes. The resulting mildly nonlinear system, at every time step, is efficiently solved with a converging, properly devised, nested Newton‐type algorithm. It will be shown that with the proposed semi‐implicit model, high accuracy can be achieved at a moderate computational cost. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Semi‐implicit subgrid modelling of three‐dimensional free‐surface flows

In this paper, a semi‐implicit numerical model for two‐ and three‐dimensional free‐surface flows will be formulated in such a fashion as to intrinsically account for subgrid bathymetric details. It will be shown that with the proposed subgrid approach the model accuracy can be substantially improved without increasing the corresponding computational effort. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An implicit 2D hydrodynamic numerical model for free surface–subsurface coupled flow problems

A 2‐dimensional hydrodynamic finite volume model has been proposed for simultaneous simulation of free surface and saturated porous media. The governing equations of the former are 2‐dimensional averaged in a unit width of Navier‐Stokes, whereas that of the latter are Darcy law. An efficient, simple, and stable algorithm has been proposed to track the surface elevation in Cartesian coordinate system by which the water elevation in each computational column has been computed along with the other pressure unknowns simultaneously. The surface position has not been considered to remain in a specific layer so the number of cells in each column have been variably adjusted in accordance with the water surface elevation. Performance of the coupled model has been validated against a range of hydrodynamic problems including propagation of linear short wave, seepage test, tidal oscillation in a lagoon system, gravity current, and saltwater intrusion. Comparison between numerical results, analytical solutions, and experimental data demonstrates that the model represents well the interacting surface water and ground water flow and solute transport processes.     

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 high‐resolution wetting and drying algorithm for free‐surface hydrodynamics

A new wetting and drying algorithm for numerical modeling free‐surface flows is proposed and analyzed. A well structured, mildly nonlinear system for the discrete water surface elevation is derived from the governing differential equations by requiring a correct mass balance in wet areas as well as in the region of transition from wet to dry and from dry to wet. Existence and uniqueness of the numerical solution, along with a convergence analysis of an iterative scheme for the mildly nonlinear system, is provided. The present algorithm is devised to use high‐resolution bathymetric data at subgrid level. The resulting model is quite efficient, does not require a threshold value for minimal water depth, does not produce un‐physical negative water depths and generates accurate results with relatively coarse mesh and large time step size. These features are illustrated on a severe test‐case with known analytical solution. Copyright © 2008 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.     

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.     

Comparing analytical and numerical solution of nonlinear two and three‐dimensional hydrostatic flows

New test cases for frictionless, three‐dimensional hydrostatic flows have been derived from some known analytical solutions of the two‐dimensional shallow water equations. The flow domain is a paraboloid of revolution and the flow is determined by the initial conditions, the nonlinear advective terms, the Coriolis acceleration and by the hydrostatic pressure. Wetting and drying is also included. Some specific properties of the exact solutions are discussed under different hypothesis and relative importance of the forcing terms. These solutions are proposed for testing the stability, the accuracy and the efficiency of numerical models to be used for simulating environmental hydrostatic flows. The computed solutions obtained with a semi‐implicit finite difference—finite volume algorithm on unstructured grid are compared with the corresponding analytical solutions in both two and three space dimension. Excellent agreement are obtained for the velocity and for the resulting water surface elevation. Comparison of the computed inundation area also shows a good agreement with the analytical solution with degrading accuracy observed when the inundation area becomes relatively large and for long simulation time. Copyright © 2006 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.     

A two‐dimensional vertical non‐hydrostatic σ model with an implicit method for free‐surface flows

An implicit finite difference model in the σ co‐ordinate system is developed for non‐hydrostatic, two‐dimensional vertical plane free‐surface flows. To accurately simulate interaction of free‐surface flows with uneven bottoms, the unsteady Navier–Stokes equations and the free‐surface boundary condition are solved simultaneously in a regular transformed σ domain using a fully implicit method in two steps. First, the vertical velocity and pressure are expressed as functions of horizontal velocity. Second, substituting these relationship into the horizontal momentum equation provides a block tri‐diagonal matrix system with the unknown of horizontal velocity, which can be solved by a direct matrix solver without iteration. A new treatment of non‐hydrostatic pressure condition at the top‐layer cell is developed and found to be important for resolving the phase of wave propagation. Additional terms introduced by the σ co‐ordinate transformation are discretized appropriately in order to obtain accurate and stable numerical results. The developed model has been validated by several tests involving free‐surface flows with strong vertical accelerations and non‐linear waves interacting with uneven bottoms. Comparisons among numerical results, analytical solutions and experimental data show the capability of the model to simulate free‐surface flow problems. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Integrated numerical model for vegetated surface and saturated subsurface flow interaction

The construction of an integrated numerical model is presented in this paper to deal with the interactions between vegetated surface and saturated subsurface flows. A numerical model is built by integrating the previously developed quasi-three-dimensional (Q3D) vegetated surface flow model with a two-dimensional (2D) saturated groundwater flow model. The vegetated surface flow model is constructed by coupling the explicit finite volume solution of 2D shallow water equations (SWEs) with the implicit finite difference solution of Navier-Stokes equations (NSEs) for vertical velocity distribution. The subsurface model is based on the explicit finite volume solution of 2D saturated groundwater flow equations (SGFEs). The ground and vegetated surface water interaction is achieved by introducing source-sink terms into the continuity equations. Two solutions are tightly coupled in a single code. The integrated model is applied to four test cases, and the results are satisfactory.     

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.     

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 efficient finite difference scheme for free‐surface flows in narrow rivers and estuaries

This paper presents a free‐surface correction (FSC) method for solving laterally averaged, 2‐D momentum and continuity equations. The FSC method is a predictor–corrector scheme, in which an intermediate free surface elevation is first calculated from the vertically integrated continuity equation after an intermediate, longitudinal velocity distribution is determined from the momentum equation. In the finite difference equation for the intermediate velocity, the vertical eddy viscosity term and the bottom‐ and sidewall friction terms are discretized implicitly, while the pressure gradient term, convection terms, and the horizontal eddy viscosity term are discretized explicitly. The intermediate free surface elevation is then adjusted by solving a FSC equation before the intermediate velocity field is corrected. The finite difference scheme is simple and can be easily implemented in existing laterally averaged 2‐D models. It is unconditionally stable with respect to gravitational waves, shear stresses on the bottom and side walls, and the vertical eddy viscosity term. It has been tested and validated with analytical solutions and field data measured in a narrow, riverine estuary in southwest Florida. Model simulations show that this numerical scheme is very efficient and normally can be run with a Courant number larger than 10. It can be used for rivers where the upstream bed elevation is higher than the downstream water surface elevation without any problem. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A fully hydrodynamic model for three‐dimensional,free‐surface flows

The hydrostatic pressure assumption has been widely used in studying water movements in rivers, lakes, estuaries, and oceans. While this assumption is valid in many cases and has been successfully used in numerous studies, there are many cases where this assumption is questionable. This paper presents a three‐dimensional, hydrodynamic model for free‐surface flows without using the hydrostatic pressure assumption. The model includes two predictor–corrector steps. In the first predictor–corrector step, the model uses hydrostatic pressure at the previous time step as an initial estimate of the total pressure field at the new time step. Based on the estimated pressure field, an intermediate velocity field is calculated, which is then corrected by adding the non‐hydrostatic component of the pressure to the estimated pressure field. A Poisson equation for non‐hydrostatic pressure is solved before the second intermediate velocity field is calculated. The final velocity field is found after the free surface at the new time step is computed by solving a free‐surface correction equation. The numerical method was validated with several analytical solutions and laboratory experiments. Model results agree reasonably well with analytical solutions and laboratory results. Model simulations suggest that the numerical method presented is suitable for fully hydrodynamic simulations of three‐dimensional, free‐surface flows. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A semi‐implicit scheme for 3D free surface flows with high‐order velocity reconstruction on unstructured Voronoi meshes

In this paper, we present a computationally efficient semi‐implicit scheme for the simulation of three‐dimensional hydrostatic free surface flow problems on staggered unstructured Voronoi meshes. For each polygonal control volume, the pressure is defined in the cell center, whereas the discrete velocity field is given by the normal velocity component at the cell faces. A piecewise high‐order polynomial vector velocity field is then reconstructed from the scalar normal velocities at the cell faces by using a new high‐order constrained least‐squares reconstruction operator. The reconstructed high‐order piecewise polynomial velocity field is used for trajectory integration in a semi‐Lagrangian approach to discretize the nonlinear convective terms in the governing PDE. For that purpose, a high‐order Taylor method is used as ODE integrator. The resulting semi‐implicit algorithm is extensively validated on a large set of different academic test problems with exact analytical solution and is finally applied to a real‐world engineering problem consisting of a curved channel upstream of two micro‐turbines of a hydroelectric power plant. For this realistic case, some experimental reference data are available from field measurements. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A cell‐based smoothed finite element method with semi‐implicit CBS procedures for incompressible laminar viscous flows

In this paper, the cell‐based smoothed finite element method (CS‐FEM) with the semi‐implicit characteristic‐based split (CBS) scheme (CBS/CS‐FEM) is proposed for computational fluid dynamics. The 3‐node triangular (T3) element and 4‐node quadrilateral (Q4) element are used for present CBS/CS‐FEM for two‐dimensional flows. The 8‐node hexahedral element (H8) is used for three‐dimensional flows. Two types of CS‐FEM are implemented in this paper. One is standard CS‐FEM with quadrilateral gradient smoothing cells for Q4 element and hexahedron cells for H8 element. Another is called as n‐sided CS‐FEM (nCS‐FEM) whose gradient smoothing cells are triangles for Q4 element and pyramids for H8 element. To verify the proposed methods, benchmarking problems are tested for two‐dimensional and three‐dimensional flows. The benchmarks show that CBS/CS‐FEM and CBS/nCS‐FEM are capable to solve incompressible laminar flow and can produce reliable results for both steady and unsteady flows. The proposed CBS/CS‐FEM method has merits on better robustness against distorted mesh with only slight more computation time and without losing accuracy, which is important for problems with heavy mesh distortion. The blood flow in carotid bifurcation is also simulated to show capabilities of proposed methods for realistic and complicated flow problems.     

High‐order compact numerical schemes for non‐hydrostatic free surface flows

The development of a numerical scheme for non‐hydrostatic free surface flows is described with the objective of improving the resolution characteristics of existing solution methods. The model uses a high‐order compact finite difference method for spatial discretization on a collocated grid and the standard, explicit, single step, four‐stage, fourth‐order Runge–Kutta method for temporal discretization. The Cartesian coordinate system was used. The model requires the solution of two Poisson equations at each time‐step and tridiagonal matrices for each derivative at each of the four stages in a time‐step. Third‐ and fourth‐order accurate boundaries for the flow variables have been developed including the top non‐hydrostatic pressure boundary. The results demonstrate that numerical dissipation which has been a problem with many similar models that are second‐order accurate is practically eliminated. A high accuracy is obtained for the flow variables including the non‐hydrostatic pressure. The accuracy of the model has been tested in numerical experiments. In all cases where analytical solutions are available, both phase errors and amplitude errors are very small. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.