Comparison of the SPH and Finite Volume methods for simulating free-surface and confined flows

摘要

The SPH (Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics) and Volume of Fluid (VoF) methods are two possible approaches to model complex free-surface flows, with opposite properties. Based on its Lagrangian nature, the first one deals very easily with free-surfaces while the second requires solving a governing equation for fluid volume fraction. On the other hand, when based on Finite Volumes (FV), VoF presents a natural framework to treat wall boundary conditions, which are significantly more difficult to handle with SPH. This paper presents three two-dimensional hydrodynamic benchmark tests treated with both methods. We observe that that they give comparable results. Considering the FV method as a reference, this means that SPH, when equipped with appropriate wall boundary treatment, can model complicated free-surface flows with a very good accuracy, and is thus a very promising method for modelling real-life environmental, complicated flows.