Moving particle method for modeling wave interaction with porous structures

This paper presents a numerical model for simulating wave interaction with porous structures. Incompressible smoothed particle hydrodynamics in porous media (ISPHP) method is introduced in this study as a mesh free particle approach that is capable of efficiently tracking the large deformation of free surfaces in a Lagrangian coordinate system. The developed model solves two porous and pure fluid flows simultaneously by means of one equation that is equivalent to the unsteady 2D Navier-Stokes (NS) equations for the flows outside the porous media and the extended Forchheimer equation for the flows inside the porous media. Interface boundary between pure fluid and porous media is effectively modeled by the SPH integration technique. A two-step semi-implicit scheme is also used to solve the fluid pressure satisfying the fluid incompressibility criterion. The developed ISPHP model is then validated via different experimental and numerical data. Fluid flow pattern through porous dam with different porosities is studied and regular wave attenuation over porous seabed is investigated. As a practical case, wave running up and overtopping on a caisson breakwater protected by a porous armor layer are modeled. The results show good agreements between numerical and laboratory data in terms of free surface displacement, overtopping rate and pressure distribution. Based on this study, ISPHP model is an efficient method for simulating the coastal applications with porous structures. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.