The effect of using non-orthogonal boundary-fitted grids for solving the shallow water equations

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of using non-orthogonal boundary-fitted grids for the numerical solution of the shallow water equations. Two geometries with well known analytical solutions are introduced in order to investigate the accuracy of the numerical solutions. The results verify that a reasonable departure from orthogonality can be allowed when the rate of change of cell areas is kept sufficiently small (i.e. it is not necessary to create a strictly orthogonal grid when the grid is sufficiently smooth).