Simulation of Dam-Break Flow by a Corrected Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics Method

Abstract

The paper deals with numerical modelling of water flow which is generated by the break of a dam. The problem is solved by applying a smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) method in which standard smoothing kernel functions are corrected in such a way that so-called linear reproducing conditions for kernel approximations and their gradients are satisfied. The proposed SPH model has been used to simulate a two-dimensional problem of the collapse of a water column inside a rectangular tank. The simulations illustrate the formation and subsequent propagation of a wave over the horizontal plane. It is shown that the model predictions of the changes of the advancing wave-front position, and of the changes of the free surface elevation of water, compare well with experimental data. Also, the results obtained with the corrected SPH method are compared with those given by the standard SPH method with no kernel correction. In addition, an impact of the surging wave against a vertical rigid wall is illustrated.