Free-Surface Prototype Problems Suitable to Investigate Particle Methods

In this paper, an in-depth study of the SPH method is achieved on dedicated free-surface prototype problems. These rather critical prototype problems are believed to be suitable test cases to get through when building a SPH model. The goal is to investigate numerical aspects of this method that are little mentioned in literature. In particular, a specific attention is given to the dynamic part of the solution, i.e. the local hydrodynamic load prediction. The role of numerical errors in the development of acoustic frequencies in the pressure signals is discussed, as well as the influence of the choice of the sound velocity. The convergence of this method is heuristically proved on these non-linear prototype tests, showing at the same time the very satisfactory level of accuracy reached by our model. The advantages and drawbacks of using a higher-order form of the integral interpolation are also discussed. As well, it is shown that the same kind of tests are useful to investigate three dimensional versions of SPH solvers.