Finite volume simulation of waves formed by sliding masses

Abstract

We numerically study a relatively simple two-dimensional (2D) model for landslide-generated nonlinear surface water waves. The landslides are modeled as rigid and impervious bodies translating on a flat or an inclined bottom. The water motion is assumed to be properly modeled by the 2D nonlinear system of shallow water equations. The resulting 2D system is numerically solved by means of a conservative well-balanced high-resolution finite volume upwind scheme esspecially adapted to treat advancing wet/dry fronts over irregular topography. Numerical results for 1D and 2D benchmark cases include comparisons with analytical or asymptotic solutions as well as comparisons with experimental data. The numerical investigation reveals that although the presented model has certain limitations, it appears to be able to model important aspects and the most significant characteristics of wave formation and propagation in their initial generation stage, namely, the waves moving toward the shore, the subsequent run-up and run-down, the waves propagating toward deep water, as well as the shape and arrival time of these waves. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.