Numerical modeling of fully nonlinear 3D overturning waves over arbitrary bottom

An accurate three-dimensional (3D) Numerical Wave Tank (NWT) solving the full nonlinear potential flow equations is proposed for modeling wave propagation up to overturning over arbitrary bottom topography. The model combines a high-order 3D Boundary Element Method (BEM) and a Mixed Eulerian-Lagrangian (MEL) time updating of the free surface, based on explicit second-order Taylor series expansions with adaptive time steps. The spatial discretization is third-order and imposes continuity of the inter-element slopes. Discretized boundary conditions at intersections between domain boundary sections (corner/edges) are well-posed in all cases of mixed Dirichlet-Neumann problems. Waves can be generated in the tank by wavemakers or directly specified on the free surface. If required, absorbing layers can be simulated on lateral boundaries. Node regridding to a finer resolution can be applied at any time step over selected areas of the free surface. Applications to wave overturning over a ridge and wave impact on a vertical wall are presented