Developing a High-Performance Wave Generation Tool in OpenFOAM-Extend with Free-Surface Capturing Method

Abstract

To address the demands of contemporary research and industry, it is crucial to reduce computational costs and rely on open-source codes to simulate real-world wave propagation phenomena. As a response, we have developed an efficient solver for modeling free surfaces within the OpenFOAM computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software package. Our approach involves employing the finite volume method for discretization to solve the Laplacian of the velocity potential. Moreover, we have devised the necessary kinematic and dynamic boundary conditions to depict fluid behavior at the computational domain's boundaries and the free surface's behavior. Our simulation focused on standing waves, accounting for nonlinearity and dispersion effects. Furthermore, we compared our findings with experimental data, and the results demonstrated exceptional consistency, compared well with Navier-Stokes simulations by capturing steeper wave crests and representing the general trend and nonlinear behavior. It is pertinent to note that our solver and boundary conditions are novel, exclusive to our research and were not present in the standard OpenFOAM distribution.