Application of local grid refinement to vortex motion due to a solitary wave passing over a submerged body

A numerical method based on the streamfunction-vorticity formulation is applied to simulate the two-dimensional, transient, viscous flow with a free surface. This method succesfully uses the locally refined grid in an inviscid-viscous model to explore the processes of vortex formation due to a solitary wave passing over a submerged bluff body. The two particular bodies considered here are a blunt rectangular block and a semicircular cylinder. Flow visualization to track dyelines is carried out in the laboratory in order to confirm the validity of the numerical results. Numerical results examined by different grid configurations ensure the locally refined grid to be useful in practical application. Flow phenomena, including the vortex motion and wave patterns during non-linear wave-structure interaction, are also discussed.