Meshless Generalized Finite Difference Method for the Propagation of Nonlinear Water Waves under Complex Wave Conditions

Abstract

The propagation of nonlinear water waves under complex wave conditions is the key issue of hydrodynamics both in coastal and ocean engineering, which is significant in the prediction of strongly nonlinear phenomena regarding wave–structure interactions. In the present study, the meshless generalized finite difference method (GFDM) together with the second-order Runge–Kutta method (RKM2) is employed to construct a fully three-dimensional (3D) meshless numerical wave flume (NWF). Three numerical examples, i.e., the propagation of freak waves, irregular waves and focused waves, are implemented to verify the accuracy and stability of the developed 3D GFDM model. The results show that the present numerical model possesses good performance in the simulation of nonlinear water waves and suggest that the 3D “RKM2-GFDM” meshless scheme can be adopted to further simulate more complex nonlinear problems regarding wave–structure interactions in ocean engineering.

Keywords

• meshless method
• generalized finite difference method
• nonlinear water waves
• numerical wave flume
• transient extreme waves
• irregular waves