Numerical investigation of wave-induced flexible vegetation dynamics in 3D using a coupling between DualSPHysics and the FEA module of Project Chrono

Numerical investigation of wave-induced flexible vegetation dynamics in 3D using a coupling between DualSPHysics and the FEA module of Project Chrono

El Rahi, Joe (Universiteit Gent)
Martínez-Estévez, Iván (Universidade de Vigo)
Tagliafierro, Bonaventura (Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya)
Domínguez, José M. (Universidade de Vigo)
Crespo, Alejandro J.C. (Universidade de Vigo)
Stratigaki, Vasiliki (Universiteit Gent)
Suzuki, T. (TU Delft Environmental Fluid Mechanics; Flanders Hydraulics Research)
Troch, Peter (Universiteit Gent)

2023

Vegetation meadows in coastal waters are a key constituent of a future green defense package due to the ecosystem services they provide and the potential to attenuate wave energy. To numerically describe the vegetation dynamics under wave action, this paper presents a novel application of a numerical coupling for solving fluid–elastic structure interactions (FSI) problems involving ultra-thin elements in a 3-D environment. The extended two-way coupling employed in this work combines the mesh-free Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) method in the DualSPHysics code to solve the fluid flow, and the Finite Element Analysis (FEA) structural solver in Project Chrono to solve the structural dynamics. To represent the vegetation, a flexible structure based on the Euler–Bernoulli beam model is used. The beam element is embedded into the SPH domain using an envelope subdomain that is discretized using dummy boundary particles. As such, this dummy envelope serves as a decoupling interface for the geometrical properties of the structure, allowing for ultra-thin structures smaller than the initial inter-particle distance (dp). The numerical approach is validated against an experimental setup including a flexible blade swaying under the action of an oscillatory flow. The results demonstrate that the numerical model is able to resolve the wave–vegetation interaction problem. Furthermore, additional insights into the blade dynamics reveal that the swaying velocity increases linearly along the length, with the upper part swaying at a speed comparable to the fluid velocity while the stem remains relatively stationary. Additionally, the findings indicate that rigid vegetation experiences higher forces per unit length, and in systems with substantial swaying motion, energy dissipation predominantly occurs around the lower base of the vegetation.

DualSPHysics
Fluid–elastic structure interaction
ProjectChrono
SPH-FEA coupling
Vegetation dynamics
Wave–vegetation interaction

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:07a56494-3f51-4d39-a299-c277f2eeefdc

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oceaneng.2023.115227

2024-01-10

0029-8018

Ocean Engineering, 285

Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.

Institutional Repository

journal article

© 2023 Joe El Rahi, Iván Martínez-Estévez, Bonaventura Tagliafierro, José M. Domínguez, Alejandro J.C. Crespo, Vasiliki Stratigaki, T. Suzuki, Peter Troch