A Lagrangian meshless method for free-surface flows

A distinguishing feature of free-surface flows, and more in general of multi-phase flows, is that interfaces separating media can break and fragment. These circumstances are by no means rare, and are of rather great importance in engineering applications. Most of the CFD solvers proposed are usually based on the use of a grid (fixed or moving) to discretized the field equations, and then coupled to algorithms either to track or capture the interfaces. Here, we describe a different strategy based on a mesh-less method, named Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH), where a number of fluid particles is tracked in a Lagrangian fashion to determine the evolution of the flow field. Intra- and boundary-particles interactions are modeled by discretizing the field equations and the boundary conditions through the interpolation integral technique. The method has been already used successfully to highlight some mechanisms of wave breaking. Scope of the present paper and of the presentation is summarizing our most recent experience aimed to further improve accuracy, efficiency, and applicability of the method.