Application of CLEAR-VOF method to wave and flow simulations

Abstract

A two-dimensional numerical model based on the Navier-Stokes equations and computational Lagrangian-Eulerian advection remap-volume of fluid (CLEAR-VOF) method was developed to simulate wave and flow problems. The Navier-Stokes equations were discretized with a three-step finite element method that has a third-order accuracy. In the CLEAR-VOF method, the VOF function F was calculated in the Lagrangian manner and allowed the complicated free surface to be accurately captured. The propagation of regular waves and solitary waves over a flat bottom, and shoaling and breaking of solitary waves on two different slopes were simulated with this model, and the numerical results agreed with experimental data and theoretical solutions. A benchmark test of dam-collapse flow was also simulated with an unstructured mesh, and the capability of the present model for wave and flow simulations with unstructured meshes, was verified. The results show that the model is effective for numerical simulation of wave and flow problems with both structured and unstructured meshes.

Keywords

• water wave
• water flow
• numerical simulation
• CLEAR-VOF
• three-step finite element method