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The 3rd International Conference on Earthquake Engineering and Disaster Mitigation 2016 (ICEEDM-III 2016)

Numerical Simulation of Shallow Water Waves With


Bottom Boundary Layer Development
Hitoshi Tanaka1, Mohammad Bagus Adityawan2, Yuta Mitobe3
1
Professor, Tohoku University, 6-6-06 Aoba, Sendai 980-8579, Japan.
2
Lecturer, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Bandung, Indonesia.
3
Assistant Professor, Tohoku University, 6-6-06 Aoba, Sendai 980-8579, Japan.

Abstract
The wave length of tsunami wave is usually very long as compared with the water depth, thus, it can
be considered as long wave. Therefore, numerical simulation of tsunami study has often been
conducted using shallow water equation (SWE). SWE equation is efficient in calculation with
relatively good results for long waves. The momentum equation in SWE often refers to Manning
method for bed stress calculation. This method assumes that the bed stress is proportional to the
square of velocity. However, past studies and experiments have shown that development of bottom
boundary layer is important related to bed stress. Nevertheless, the governing equation is more
complex and therefore, a turbulent model covering from bed to surface, is considered to be time
consuming and inefficient for practical applications. This paper introduces a new method for tsunami
waves which can improve the accuracy of existing SWE model by considering bottom boundary
layer development. In order to achieve higher accuracy of the SWE, k-w turbulence model is used to
assess the bed stress. Thus, allowing a more accurate estimation of bed stress which increases the
accuracy of long wave simulation. This method is more computationally efficient than using the
turbulent model in the whole domain from bed to surface.
Keywords: tsunami run up, simulation, boundary layer development, turbulence model, bottom shear stress

1. INTRODUCTION

Tsunami wave is a natural phenomenon which has been widely studied by many researchers. The
wave effects to coastal area can be devastating as the wave propagates into shallow area with massive
force. One of the main problems caused by the tsunami wave is the coastal morphology changes due
to sediment transport. Detail and thorough study of this phenomenon requires a better approach in the
bed stress approximation under the wave. In the nearshore region, the bottom boundary layer
characteristic of the wave will play an important role in the sediment transport process. The boundary
layer in this area is usually very thin. Furthermore, it is difficult to observe this phenomenon in
nature. Experimental and numerical works are preferred to study this phenomenon. Tsunami wave
study is often conducted using long wave approach due to its similarity.
Various studies had been conducted in the past regarding long wave run up and propagation.
Synolakis [1] have conducted experimental work which is considered to have significant impact in
this field of study. The canonical problem sets in his study, are often used as benchmark for
numerical model.
The SWE model has been known for its efficiency and relatively good accuracy when we deal
with long waves including tsunami. SWE is commonly used for numerical modelling. However,
conventional Manning method is usually used in assessing bed stress term. The method estimates the
bed stress under the assumption that the bed stress is in phase with the average velocity. Thus, the
bed stress can be estimated directly from this velocity. However, this assumption is not always
accurate. It is very difficult to accurately predict the sediment fluxes due to the complexity of wave
hydrodynamics.
The bed stress behaviour will be influenced by the boundary layer properties beneath the wave.
Study on boundary layer under solitary wave by Suntoyo and Tanaka [2] has shown the good
accuracy of bed stress approximation from the boundary layer using numerical model. Two equation
models are often used to assess the boundary layer properties with k-e and k-w being the most
common. Suntoyo [3] had made comparison between the models. k-w model is considered to be
more accurate than the k-e model in assessing the boundary layer properties. Adityawan et al. [4]
used 2D k-w model to investigate boundary layer properties under the wave motion with good
accuracy.
Bed stress estimation is very important in sediment transport modeling. Therefore, it is crucial to
have an accurate estimation of bed stress. A turbulent model based on k-e equation, covering from
bed to surface, has been used by Lin et al. [5] to simulate canonical problems from Synolakis [1]. The
results showed good accuracy to the experimental data. Nevertheless, the method is more
complicated than the regular SWE involving grid method and free surface tracking. The SWE model
seems to have the benefits in terms of efficiency, simplicity, thus allowing further development and
implementation in practical application.
This paper introduces a new computation method of tsunami waves proposed by Adityawan et al.
[4] which can improve the accuracy of existing SWE model by considering the simplicity of the
model for practical application in coastal area. Improvement is obtained by replacing the
conventional Manning method with direct assessment of bed stress from the boundary layer. The
SWE model is coupled with k-w model to solve simultaneously. Thus, bed stress can be
approximated directly from the boundary layer using the k-w model. The new method, Simultaneous
Coupling Method (SCM), is used to simulate canonical problems. Further analyses are conducted
regarding the bed stress and momentum balance evolution during the propagation and run up process.

2. SIMULTANEOUS COUPLING METHOD (SCM)

The governing equations are SWE and k-w equation. The models are calculated separately at each
time steps however their results are intertwine, allowing simultaneous calculation.
The basic idea for the calculation is to upgrade the SWE model by replacing the Manning method
with a more accurate method to assess the bed stress term within the momentum equation. The
commonly used Manning approach will be replaced by direct approach of bed stress in the near bed
region using a k-w model.
Calculation begins with an initial condition of the parameters. Initial value of friction coefficient
is stated for bed stress calculation in SWE model. The velocity obtained from the SWE model is
applied as the free stream velocity boundary condition in the k-w model. Furthermore, the bed stress
obtained from the k-w model is applied in the momentum equation of SWE model.
A new grid system is developed to allow both models to be coupled simultaneously. The grid
system for the method does not require horizontal and vertical grid system covering the whole domain
from bed to surface. The vertical grid is only required in the near bottom area to assess the boundary
layer for bed stress calculation.
The SWE consists of the continuity equation and the momentum equation as follows.

(1)
where h is the water depth, U is depth averaged velocity, t is time, g is gravity, z b is the bed
elevation, ρ is density and τo is the bed stress. Manning equation is commonly used to assess bed
stress in most of the past computations. In Simultaneous Coupling Method (SCM) proposed by
Adityawan et al. [4], the governing equation for the k-w model is applied which is based on the
Reynolds-averaged equations of continuity and momentum.

where ui and xi denotes the velocity in the boundary layer and location in the grid, ui’ is the fluctuating
velocity in the x (i = 1) and y (i = 2) directions, P is the static pressure, ν is the kinematics viscosity, ρ
is the density of the fluid, ru i' u'j is the Reynolds stress tensor, and Sij is the strain-rate tensor from the
following equation.

The Reynolds stress tensor is given through eddy viscosity by Boussinesq approximation.

with k is the turbulent kinetic energy and δij is the Kronecker delta. The turbulent kinetic energy and
specific dissipation rate, ω in the k–ω model equation is given as follows.

The eddy viscosity is given by

The values of the closure coefficients are given by Wilcox [6] as β= 3/40, β* = 0.09, α = 5/9,
and σ = σ* = 0.5. The boundary condition at the bottom is no slip boundary. At the free
stream, it is assumed that the velocity gradient, turbulent kinetic energy gradient and the
dissipation rate gradient are zero.

3. LABPRATORY EXPERIMENT FOR MODEL APPLICATION

An experimental study of the tsunami wave propagation on the Kitakami River was
carried out (Fukushima et al. [7]). The sand spit around the Kitakami river mouth was
severely eroded by the 2011 tsunami. Thus it is important to assess the bed stress accurately
in this area in relation to the induced sediment transport. The model domain is shown in
Figure 1. The model domain was divided by a 10x10 m rectangular grid in x- and y-direction.
The grid for the k-w model starts at 0.01 m and increased exponentially by a factor of 1.01.
Here, SCM is only used around the river mouth (see Figure 1).
The Manning roughness value for SWE is set at 0.025 while the ks value for SCM is
set at its equivalent value of 46 mm. The wet dry boundary condition is given as a water
depth threshold of 1cm. A water depth below this value is a dry grid with zero velocity.
The incoming wave profile was measured in the experiment and applied in the
numerical model as the boundary condition on the right hand side of the model domain. The
initial water level is set at -0.34 m as in the experiment. In the experiment, a weir was located
in the river on the left hand side of the domain and therefore, the critical velocity above the
weir is used as the left boundary condition in the river. The upper and lower domain use a
closed boundary condition.

Fig. 1. Experimental domain

4. COMPUTATION RESULT

The simulation and experiment results are both shown using the same scale for comparison
purposes and to have a better understanding of the wave propagation process as reported by
Fukushima et al. [7]. Overall, the calculated water level from the numerical model show good
comparison to those measured from the experiment. The detailed computation results are given
elsewhere [8], [9].
The water depth, velocities and bed stress profiles from SCM are compared to those obtained
from conventional Manning approach as seen in Figures 2, 4 and 4. It should be noted here that SCM
works at the early stage of the tsunami wave propagation into the river mouth. It is seen that temporal
variations of the bed stress profile from Manning approach are similar to the velocity due to the
quadratic assumption in SWE. However, it is noted that the early stage of the incoming tsunami wave
is highly unsteady. Therefore, a more accurate bed stress assessment from the boundary layer is more
suitable. According to SCM computation denoted in Figures 3 and 4, the bed stress shows a
significant phase lag to the velocity. In general, the maximum bed stress is higher in SCM
computation, especially in y-direction, which is the dominant direction of the incoming tsunami wave.
As already reported by Tanaka et al. [10], the sand spit around the Kitakami River mouth was
severely eroded by the 2011 Tohoku Tsunami. Detailed result of movable bed simulation using SCM
for the Kitakami River mouth will be described in Mitobe et al. [11].
Fig. 2. Simulated water depth and velocities from SCM model

Fig. 3 Simulated bed stress in y-direction from SCM and Manning

Fig. 4 Simulated bed stress in x-direction from SCM and Manning

5. CONCLUSIONS
A new method to simulate tsunami propagation process has been introduced in this study. The new method was
developed by replacing the conventional Manning approach which is commonly used in the SWE, with a direct
bed stress assessment from the boundary layer using k-w model. The proposed method has been applied to
simulate laboratory experimental results for tsunami propagation into the Kitakami River mouth, Japan. The
Manning method calculates bed stress based on the assumption that the bed stress magnitude is linear to the
square of velocity per depth ratio. Thus, it cannot explain the shifting behavior of the velocity to the bed
stress. However, the proposed method is able to simulate this phenomenon. It is also found that bed
stress leaving the shoreline will have more effect in the entire process.
An accurate bed stress assessment is useful in understanding the sediment transport process.
Therefore, SCM is shown here as a valuable tool in assessing the sediment transport under an
unsteady wave motion. It has been shown that SCM can be used for practical application in real case
scenario. SCM can be further developed to cover the boundary layer thickness up to the surface.
Hence, it may cover the whole wave duration.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors wish to express their gratitude to National Institute for Land and Infrastructure
Management, Japan for providing us the valuable experimental data. A part of this research was
supported by Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from Japan Society for Promotion of Science (No.
16H04414)

REFERENCES

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2016. DOI: 10.2112/SI75-250.1
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shear stress”, Proceedings of THESIS 2016, Two-Phase Modelling for Sediment Dynamics in
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