Modeling Water Waves with Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics

Abstract

LONG-TERM GOALSSmoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) is a meshless numerical method that is being developed for the study of nearshore waves and other Navy needs. The Lagrangian nature of SPH allows the modeling of wave breaking, surf zones, ship waves, and wave-structure interaction, where the free surface becomes convoluted or splash occurs. Including these phenomena in a numerical model that is robust enough for Navy use: GPUSPH. OBJECTIVESTo improve the ability of the meshfree Lagrangian numerical method Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) to be a useful hydrodynamics model for breaking waves and the nearshore zone, particularly for case where spray and splash are important. To utilize the massively parallel graphics processing units on computers to develop the GPU-accelerated model GPUSPH to solve a number of problems relevant to the U.S. Navy. The science objective is to be able to accurately model the complex flows associated with breaking water waves, including instantaneous motions as well as (time-averaged) wave-induced flows, such as undertow, longshore currents, and rip currents. APPROACHThe approach is based on improving various aspects of the SPH code, including the continued development of a multi-graphics processing unit (GPU) version of the code (GPUSPH); applying the code to more validation tests; and to examine in some detail new aspects of the model by applying it to different situations relevant to Navy needs.