Comparison between the Lagrangian and Eulerian Approach for Simulating Regular and Solitary Waves Propagation, Breaking and Run-Up

Diana De Padova,Domenico Maraglino,Michele Mossa,Paolo Michele Carbone,Lucas Calvo

doi:10.3390/app11209421

Diana De Padova, Domenico Maraglino + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/app11209421

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Abstract

The present paper places emphasis on the most widely used Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) approaches, namely the Eulerian and Lagrangian methods each of which is characterized by specific advantages and disadvantages. In particular, a weakly compressible smoothed particle (WCSPH) model, coupled with a sub-particle scale (SPS) approach for turbulent stresses and a new depth-integrated non-hydrostatic finite element model were employed for the simulation of regular breaking waves on a plane slope and solitary waves transformation, breaking and run-up. The validation of the numerical schemes was performed through the comparison between numerical and experimental data. The aim of this study is to compare the two modeling methods with an emphasis on their performance in the simulation of hydraulic engineering problems.

Highlights

Nowadays, numerical methods are becoming the main tool used by scientists and researchers to study fluid dynamics problems
The purpose of this paper is to show the versatility of a grid-based and meshless method to simulate free surface hydrodynamic problems
In terms of computing cost, the Eulerian method was faster than the Lagrangian method

Summary

Introduction

Numerical methods are becoming the main tool used by scientists and researchers to study fluid dynamics problems. The numerical models for the study of a fluid motion could be based on two different approaches, the Eulerian or the Lagrangian method. From the experimental point of view, the PIV (Particle Image Velocimetry) technique allows reconstruction of the velocity vectors that occupy an instantaneous velocity field, based on the average particle motion in space [1,2,3]. From a Lagrangian viewpoint, PTV (Particle Tracking Velocimetry) traces the pathway of an individual particle from a sequence of images in a system. This method is better than PIV for handling non-stationary flow [4]

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