Abstract
Modern design for marine and coastal activities places increasing focus on numerical simulations. Several numerical wave models have been developed in the past few decades with various techniques and assumptions. Those numerical models have their own advantages and disadvantages. The proper choice of the most useful numerical tool depends on the understanding of the validity and limitations of each model. In the past years, REEF3D has been developed into an open-source hydrodynamic numerical toolbox that consists of several modules based on the Navier–Stokes equations, the shallow water equations and the fully nonlinear potential theory. All modules share a common numerical basis which consists of rectilinear grids with an immersed boundary method, high-order finite differences and high-performance computing capabilities. The numerical wave tank of REEF3D utilises a relaxation method to generate waves at the inlet and dissipate them at the numerical beach. In combination with the choice of the numerical grid and discretisation methods, high accuracy and stability can be achieved for the calculation of free surface wave propagation and transformation. The comparison among those models provide an objective overview of the different wave modelling techniques in terms of their numerical performance as well as validity. The performance of the different modules is validated and compared using several benchmark cases. They range from simple propagations of regular waves to three-dimensional wave breaking over a changing bathymetry. The diversity of the test cases help with an educated choice of wave models for different scenarios.
Highlights
Each fluid flow is subject to the conservation laws of mass, momentum and energy which can be described by several nonlinear partial differential equations
REEF3D has evolved into an open-source numerical framework that includes several types of numerical wave modelling: a computational fluid dynamic (CFD) solver REEF3D::CFD solving the Navier–Stokes equations, a shallow water model REEF3D::SFLOW solving the non-hydrostatic shallow water equations and a fully nonlinear potential flow solver REEF3D::FNPF solving the Laplace equation with the fully nonlinear boundary conditions
For REEF3D::FNPF, the vertical grid is determined by keeping a constant truncation error in the vertical direction [55], which results in 10 vertical cells with a stretching factor of 1.25
Summary
Each fluid flow is subject to the conservation laws of mass, momentum and energy which can be described by several nonlinear partial differential equations. REEF3D has evolved into an open-source numerical framework that includes several types of numerical wave modelling: a computational fluid dynamic (CFD) solver REEF3D::CFD solving the Navier–Stokes equations, a shallow water model REEF3D::SFLOW solving the non-hydrostatic shallow water equations and a fully nonlinear potential flow solver REEF3D::FNPF solving the Laplace equation with the fully nonlinear boundary conditions. With such a numerical framework, an objective comparison of the different wave modelling techniques is made possible.
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