Simulation of one dimensional open channel flows using the SPH model

Abstract

In this study, shallow water equations with source terms were numerically solved using the smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) method. The proposed model can incorporate the inflow and outflow boundaries. In addition, bed discontinuity was modelled using the fluid particles without any extra bed particles. Artificial viscosity to smoothen the numerical oscillations in the water surface profile was considered. The sensitivity and convergence analyses were used to determine the optimal model parameters. Seven different kinds of open channel flow in prismatic channels were simulated to demonstrate the model's capabilities. The numerical accuracy was quantified in terms of L2 error norm. Comparison with earlier results shows that the SPH model can be used to compute steady and unsteady open channel flows with or without bed discontinuity.