Numerical Simulation of Wave Breaking Over a Submerged Step with SPH Method

Abstract

Wave breaking over a submerged step with a steep front slope and a wide horizontal platform is studied by smoothed particle hydrodynamic (SPH) method. By adding a momentum source term and a velocity attenuation term into the governing equation, a nonreflective wave maker system is introduced in the numerical model. A suitable circuit channel is specifically designed for the present SPH model to avoid the nonphysical rise of the mean water level on the horizontal platform of the submerged step. The predicted free surface elevations and the spatial distributions of wave height and wave setup over the submerged step are validated using the corresponding experimental data. In addition, the vertical distributions of wave-induced current over the submerged step are also investigated at both low and high tides.