SPH simulation of solitary wave interaction with a curtain-type breakwater

Abstract

An incompressible Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) method is put forward to simulate non-linear and dispersive solitary wave reflection and transmission characteristics after interacting with a partially immersed curtain-type breakwater. The Naviers-Stokes equations in Lagrangian form are solved using a two-step split method. The method first integrates the velocity field in time without enforcing incompressibility. Then the resulting deviation of particle density is projected into a divergence-free space to satisfy incompressibility by solving a pressure Poisson equation. Basic SPH formulations are employed for the discretization of relevant gradient and divergence operators in the governing equations. The curtain wall and horizontal bottom are also numerically treated by fixed wall particles and the free surface of wave is tracked by particles with a lower density as compared with inner particles. The proposed SPH model is first verified by the test of a solitary wave with different amplitudes running against a vertical wall without opening underneath. Then it is applied to simulate solitary wave interacting with a partially immersed curtain wall with different immersion depths. The characteristics of wave reflection, transmission, dissipation and impacting forces on the curtain breakwater are discussed based on computational results.