SPH numerical modelling of impulse water waves generated by landslides

Abstract

In this thesis landslides generated waves are studied. This kind of tsunami waves can be very dangerous for the human communities. Starting from results presented by past studies, that found in SPH (Smoothed Particles Hydrodynamics) numerical model a good tool to study this kind of free surface problems, this work is intended to provide a more detailed testing and implementation of the above mentioned numerical model. Simply two and three dimensional tests was used in order to test the capability of our SPH code to represent correctly first and second derivative of a field variable. After that two dimensional flows were used to test different kind of viscosity for different formulations founded in literature. A detailed study was carry on in order to found a rheological model capable to represent the interaction between a submarine deformable landslide and the water. The model was implemented in SPH in a very simple and versatile way, and was tested through a simple two dimensional test. Finally the interaction between a mud flow and the water was studied with great results.