Sediment transport problems by the particle finite element method (PFEM)

Abstract

This paper presents a particle finite element model for the numerical simulation of sediment transport problems. Fluid and sediment motion are coupled in a two way manner, through boundary shear stress field and through flow domain mesh deformation. Solution of equations for fluid and sediment flows is performed by an explicit particle Lagrangian procedure (PFEM-2), including a fractional step strategy for the fluid flow equations. Previous particle finite element techniques concentrate on the simulation of erosion by removing elements. Here, transport problem includes erosion, saltation, deposition and avalanche of grains. Numerical tests explore the efficiency of the methodology, either quantitatively or qualitatively.