Solving 2-D highly nonlinear free-surface problems with an improved smoothed particle hydrodynamics method

Abstract

A numerical program based on the smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) method has been developed to solve the nonlinear fluid–structure interaction problems. The numerical method simulates the breaking free-surface flows and evaluates hydrodynamic loads on structures. A kernel function was employed to interpolate the flow field and solve the Euler equations. The solid boundaries were modelled using a fixed ghost particle method. A particle shifting technique was adopted and improved to minimize the interpolation error caused by the non-uniform particle configuration on the free surface. Validation studies were carried out for three cases, including the dam-break flow impacting a vertical wall, water entry of a free-fall wedge and the sloshing flow in a rectangular container excited by roll motions. The numerical results were compared with the experimental data and other published numerical solutions.