Development and implementation of a Direct Surface Description method for free surface flows in OpenFOAM

The solution procedure for two phases in OpenFOAM suffers from unphysical velocity oscillations at the free surface between the two phases. It is likely that this problem also exists in other two-phase Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) codes. We aim to solve this by imposing boundary conditions directly on the free surface. We have taken the first step towards a new two-phase solution method by first addressing the water phase alone. It is a free surface modelling method based on merging concepts from two existing methods: (1) A single-phase free surface method and (2) the solution method used in OpenFOAM. The underlying motivation is to enable more accurate estimation of wave induced load distributions from wave crest impacts on offshore structures. This first and foremost requires an accurate prediction of the kinematics near the free surface. We present a solution method with boundary conditions directly on the free surface, thereby the name: Direct Surface Description (DSD). Additionally it is the first time that the isoAdvector algorithm is combined with a single phase free surface method. The implementation is made in OpenFOAM, but may also relevant to other codes as well. First a still water level simulation is presented to illustrate the unphysical behaviour of the existing solvers and validate the behaviour of the DSD method. The second test case is a moderately steep stream function wave in intermediate water depth. The DSD method is validated and compared to the existing solution methods of OpenFOAM: interFoam and interIsoFoam. We present a detailed comparison of surface elevations and velocity profiles. This is followed by a convergence study including wave height, velocity and phase shift. Additionally the influence of the Courant-Friedrichs-Lewy (CFL) number is studied. The stream function wave case demonstrates that the DSD method accurately predicts the free surface elevation and velocity fields without free surface undulations or oscillatory velocity fields. The convergence study underlines an increased accuracy of the DSD method. Finally, a 2D and a 3D showcase with breaking waves are presented to show that the DSD method is capable of simulating more complex and realistic cases.

Automated summary

This study focuses on addressing the unphysical velocity oscillations at the free surface in the two-phase solution procedure of OpenFOAM. The proposed method, named Direct Surface Description (DSD), imposes boundary conditions directly on the free surface to improve the accuracy of wave-induced load estimation. The implementation of the DSD method in OpenFOAM is validated and compared to existing solution methods, showing promising results in accurately predicting free surface kinematics and simulating complex and realistic cases.