• Journal of computational fluids engineering
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.19-26
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• 1999

This paper describes a numerical method for predicting the incompressible unsteady laminar three-dimensional flows with free-surface. The Navier-Stokes equations governing the flows have been discretized by means of finite-difference approximations, and the resulting equations have been solved via the SIMPLE-C algorithm. The free-surface is defined by the motion of a set of marker particles and the interface behaviour was investigated by means of a "Lagrangian" technique. Using the GALA concept of Spalding, the conventional mass continuity equation is modified to form a volumetric or bulk-continuity equation. The use of this bulk-continuity relation allows the hydrodynamic variables to be computed over the entire flow domain including both liquid and gas regions. Thus, the free-surface boundary conditions are imposed implicitly and the problem formulation is greatly simplified. The numerical procedure is validated by comparing the predicted results of a periodic standing waves problems with analytic solutions. The results show that this numerical method produces accurate and physically realistic predictions of three-dimensional free-surface flows.