A multiple flux boundary element method applied to the description of surface water waves

This paper concerns a two dimensional numerical model based on a high-order boundary element method with fully nonlinear free surface boundary conditions. Multiple fluxes are applied as a method of removing the so-called "corner problem", whereby the direction of the outward normal at geometric discontinuities is ill-defined. In the present method, both fluxes associated with differing directions of the outward normal at a corner are considered, allowing a single node to be placed at that position. This prevents any loss of information at what can be an important part of the boundary, especially if considering simulations of wave reflection and wave run-up. The method is compared to both the double node approach and the use of discontinuous elements and is shown to be a more accurate technique. The success of the method is further demonstrated by its ability to accurately simulate various problems involving wave transmission and wave-structure interactions at domain corners; the results being achieved without the need for filtering, smoothing or re-gridding of any kind. (C) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.