An accurate and efficient finite-difference algorithm for non-hydrostatic free-surface flow with application to wave propagation

A numerical technique is presented for the approximation of vertical gradient of the non-hydrostatic pressure arising in the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations for simulating non-hydrostatic free-surface flows. It is based on the Keller-box method that take into account the effect of non-hydrostatic pressure with a very small number of vertical grid points. As a result, the proposed technique is capable of simulating relatively short wave propagation, where both frequency dispersion and non-linear effects play an important role, in an accurate and efficient manner. Numerical examples are provided to illustrate this; accurate wave characteristics are already achieved with only two layers. Copyright (C) 2003 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.