Articles | Volume 18, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-1561-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-1561-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
sedInterFoam 1.0: a three-phase numerical model for sediment transport applications with free surfaces
Center for Applied Coastal Research, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA
Yeulwoo Kim
Department of Sustainable Engineering, Pukyong National University, Busan 48513, Republic of Korea
Tian-Jian Hsu
Center for Applied Coastal Research, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA
Cyrille Bonamy
LEGI, University of Grenoble Alpes, G-INP, CNRS, 38000 Grenoble, France
Julien Chauchat
Univ. Grenoble Alpes, INRAE, CNRS, Grenoble INP, IRD, IGE, 38000 Grenoble, France
Related authors
Stefan Ivanell, Bjarke T. Olsen, Antoine Mathieu, Cristina Mulet-Benzo, Abdul Haseeb Syed, Warit Chanprasert, Mikael Sjöholm, Jakob Mann, and Julia Gottschall
Wind Energ. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2025-286, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2025-286, 2026
Preprint under review for WES
Short summary
Short summary
Modern GW-scale offshore wind farms face challenges from atmospheric dynamics. This study examines how boundary layer height (BLH) and large-scale turbulence affect efficiency and loads. Using WRF simulations, lidar data, and CFD modeling for a 100-turbine, 15 MW wind farm at three representative sites, we show that low BLH reduces performance. Turbulence-induced low-frequency fluctuations increase fatigue loads, underscoring the need to include BLH and turbulence in design models.
Stefan Ivanell, Warit Chanprasert, Luca Lanzilao, James Bleeg, Johan Meyers, Antoine Mathieu, Søren Juhl Andersen, Rem-Sophia Mouradi, Eric Dupont, Hugo Olivares-Espinosa, and Niels Troldborg
Wind Energ. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2025-88, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2025-88, 2025
Revised manuscript accepted for WES
Short summary
Short summary
This study explores how the height of the atmosphere's boundary layer impacts wind farm performance, focusing on how this factor influences energy output. By simulating different boundary layer heights and conditions, the research reveals that deeper layers promote better energy recovery. The findings highlight the importance of considering atmospheric conditions when simulating wind farms to maximize energy efficiency, offering valuable insights for the wind energy industry.
Stefan Ivanell, Bjarke T. Olsen, Antoine Mathieu, Cristina Mulet-Benzo, Abdul Haseeb Syed, Warit Chanprasert, Mikael Sjöholm, Jakob Mann, and Julia Gottschall
Wind Energ. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2025-286, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2025-286, 2026
Preprint under review for WES
Short summary
Short summary
Modern GW-scale offshore wind farms face challenges from atmospheric dynamics. This study examines how boundary layer height (BLH) and large-scale turbulence affect efficiency and loads. Using WRF simulations, lidar data, and CFD modeling for a 100-turbine, 15 MW wind farm at three representative sites, we show that low BLH reduces performance. Turbulence-induced low-frequency fluctuations increase fatigue loads, underscoring the need to include BLH and turbulence in design models.
Matthias Renaud, Olivier Bertrand, Cyrille Bonamy, and Julien Chauchat
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2375, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2375, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Sediment transport refers to the movement of granular materials such as sand, silt and gravel under the combined influence of gravity and moving fluids. This work presents an open-source numerical model designed to study this phenomenon and its application to the migration of a lone dune. However, the model has a broader range of potential applications, including the study of erosion around man-made structures, ripples formation, and river morphological evolution.
Stefan Ivanell, Warit Chanprasert, Luca Lanzilao, James Bleeg, Johan Meyers, Antoine Mathieu, Søren Juhl Andersen, Rem-Sophia Mouradi, Eric Dupont, Hugo Olivares-Espinosa, and Niels Troldborg
Wind Energ. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2025-88, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2025-88, 2025
Revised manuscript accepted for WES
Short summary
Short summary
This study explores how the height of the atmosphere's boundary layer impacts wind farm performance, focusing on how this factor influences energy output. By simulating different boundary layer heights and conditions, the research reveals that deeper layers promote better energy recovery. The findings highlight the importance of considering atmospheric conditions when simulating wind farms to maximize energy efficiency, offering valuable insights for the wind energy industry.
Cited articles
Baykal, C., Sumer, B., Fuhrman, D., Jacobsen, N., and Fredsøe, J.: Numerical simulation of scour and backfilling processes around a circular pile in waves, Coast. Eng., 122, 87–107, 2017. a
Boyer, F., Guazzelli, E., and Pouliquen, O.: Unifying Suspension and Granular Rheology, Phys. Rev. Lett., 107, 188301, https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.107.188301, 2011. a
Chassagne, R., Bonamy, C., and Chauchat, J.: A frictional–collisional model for bedload transport based on kinetic theory of granular flows: discrete and continuum approaches, J. Fluid Mech., 964, A27, https://doi.org/10.1017/jfm.2023.335, 2023. a
Chauchat, J.: A comprehensive two-phase flow model for unidirectional sheet-flows, J. Hydraul. Res., 56, 15–28, 2018. a
Chauchat, J. and Guillou, S.: On turbulence closures for two-phase sediment-laden flow models, J. Geophys. Res.-Oceans, 113, C11017, https://doi.org/10.1029/2007JC004708, 2008. a
Cheng, Z., Hsu, T.-J., and Calantoni, J.: SedFoam: A multi-dimensional Eulerian two-phase model for sediment transport and its application to momentary bed failure, Coast. Eng., 119, 32–50, 2017. a
Delisle, M.-P. C., Kim, Y., Mieras, R. S., and Gallien, T. W.: Numerical investigation of sheet flow driven by a near-breaking transient wave using SedFoam, Eur. J. Mech. B-Fluids, 96, 51–64, 2022. a
Ding, J. and Gidaspow, D.: A bubbling fluidization model using kinetic theory of granular flow, AIChE J., 36, 523–538, 1990. a
Dong, P. and Zhang, K.: Intense near-bed sediment motions in waves and currents, Coast. Eng., 45, 75–87, 2002. a
Ergun, S.: Fluid Flow through Packed Columns, Chem. Eng. Prog., 48, 89–94, 1952. a
Hirt, C. and Nichols, B.: Volume of fluid (VOF) method for the dynamics of free boundaries, J. Comput. Phys., 39, 201–225, 1981. a
Jacobsen, N. G. and Fredsøe, J.: Formation and development of a breaker bar under regular waves. Part 2: Sediment transport and morphology, Coast. Eng., 88, 55–68, 2014. a
Jasak, H. and Uroić, T.: Practical Computational Fluid Dynamics with the Finite Volume Method, Springer, 103–161, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37518-8_4, 2020. a, b, c
Kim, Y., Mieras, R. S., Cheng, Z., Anderson, D., Hsu, T.-J., Puleo, J. A., and Cox, D.: A numerical study of sheet flow driven by velocity and acceleration skewed near-breaking waves on a sandbar using SedWaveFoam, Coast. Eng., 152, 103526, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.coastaleng.2019.103526, 2019. a
Kim, Y., Mieras, R. S., Anderson, D., and Gallien, T.: A Numerical Study of Sheet Flow Driven by Skewed-Asymmetric Shoaling Waves Using SedWaveFoam, J. Mar. Sci. Eng., 9, 936, https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse9090936, 2021. a
Lee, C.-H., Low, Y. M., and Chiew, Y.-M.: Multi-dimensional rheology-based two-phase model for sediment transport and applications to sheet flow and pipeline scour, Phys. Fluids, 28, 053305, https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4948987, 2016. a
Mathieu, A., Chauchat, J., Bonamy, C., and Nagel, T.: Two-Phase Flow Simulation of Tunnel and Lee-Wake Erosion of Scour below a Submarine Pipeline, Water, 11, 1727, https://doi.org/10.3390/w11081727, 2019. a
Mathieu, A., Chauchat, J., Bonamy, C., Balarac, G., and Hsu, T.-J.: A finite-size correction model for two-fluid large-eddy simulation of particle-laden boundary layer flow, J. Fluid Mech., 913, A26, https://doi.org/10.1017/jfm.2021.4, 2021. a, b, c, d
Mathieu, A., Cheng, Z., Chauchat, J., Bonamy, C., and Hsu, T.-J.: Numerical investigation of unsteady effects in oscillatory sheet flows, J. Fluid Mech., 943, A7, https://doi.org/10.1017/jfm.2022.405, 2022. a
Mathieu, A., Kim, Y., Hsu, T.-J., Bonamy, C., and Chauchat, J.: sedInterFoam, Zenodo [data set and code], https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10577879, 2024. a, b
Montellà, E., Chauchat, J., Chareyre, B., Bonamy, C., and Hsu, T.: A two-fluid model for immersed granular avalanches with dilatancy effects, J. Fluid Mech., 925, A13, https://doi.org/10.1017/jfm.2021.666, 2021. a
Montellà, E., Chauchat, J., Bonamy, C., Weij, D., Keetels, G., and Hsu, T.: Numerical investigation of mode failures in submerged granular columns, Flow, 3, E28, https://doi.org/10.1017/flo.2023.23, 2023. a
Nagel, T., Chauchat, J., Bonamy, C., Liu, X., Cheng, Z., and Hsu, T.-J.: Three-dimensional scour simulations with a two-phase flow model, Adv. Water Resour., 138, 103544, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.advwatres.2020.103544, 2020. a, b, c
Ozel, A., Fede, P., and Simonin, O.: Development of filtered Euler-Euler two-phase model for circulating fluidised bed: High resolution simulation, formulation and a priori analyses, Int. J. Multiphas. Flow, 55, 43–63, 2013. a
Pham-Van-Bang, D., Lefrançois, E., Sergent, P., and Bertrand, F.: MRI experimental and finite elements modeling of the sedimentation-consolidation of mud, Houille Blanche, 94, 39–44, 2008. a
Revil-Baudard, T. and Chauchat, J.: A two-phase model for sheet flow regime based on dense granular flow rheology, J. Geophys. Res.-Oceans, 118, 619–634, 2013. a
Rusche, H.: Computational Fluid Dynamics of Dispersed Two-Phase Flows at High Phase Fractions, PhD thesis, Imperial College London, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271830940_Computational_Fluid_Dynamics_of_Dispersed_Two-Phase_Flows_at_High_Phase_Fractions (last access: 1 March 2025), 2003. a, b, c
Salimi-Tarazouj, A., Hsu, T.-J., Traykovski, P., and Chauchat, J.: Eulerian Two-Phase Model Reveals the Importance of Wave Period in Ripple Evolution and Equilibrium Geometry, J. Geophys. Res.-Earth, 126, e2021JF006132, 2021a. a
Salimi-Tarazouj, A., Hsu, T.-J., Traykovski, P., Cheng, Z., and Chauchat, J.: A Numerical Study of Onshore Ripple Migration Using a Eulerian Two-phase Model, J. Geophys. Res.-Oceans, 126, e2020JC016773, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JC016773, 2021b. a
Sherwood, C. R., van Dongeren, A., Doyle, J., Hegermiller, C. A., Hsu, T.-J., Kalra, T. S., Olabarrieta, M., Penko, A. M., Rafati, Y., Roelvink, D., van der Lugt, M., Veeramony, J., and Warner, J. C.: Modeling the Morphodynamics of Coastal Responses to Extreme Events: What Shape Are We In?, Annu. Rev. Mar. Sci., 14, 457–492, 2022. a
Sumer, B., Truelsen, C., Sichmann, T., and Fredsøe, J.: Onset of scour below pipelines and self-burial, Coast. Eng., 42, 313–335, 2001. a
van der A, D. A., Ribberink, J. S., van der Werf, J. J., O'Donoghue, T., Buijsrogge, R. H., and Kranenburg, W. M.: Practical sand transport formula for non-breaking waves and currents, Coast. Eng., 76, 26–42, 2013. a
Wen, C. Y. and Yu, Y. H.: A generalized method for predicting the minimum fluidization velocity, AIChE J., 12, 610–612, 1966. a
Yu, X., Hsu, T.-J., Jenkins, J. T., and Liu, P. L.-F.: Predictions of vertical sediment flux in oscillatory flows using a two-phase, sheet-flow model, Adv. Water Resour., 48, 2–17, 2012. a
Short summary
Most of the tools available to model sediment transport do not account for complex physical mechanisms such as surface-wave-driven processes. In this study, a new model, sedInterFoam, allows us to reproduce numerically complex configurations in order to investigate coastal sediment transport applications dominated by surface waves and to gain insight into the complex physical processes associated with breaking waves and morphodynamics.
Most of the tools available to model sediment transport do not account for complex physical...