An adaptive boundary-element approach to 3D transient free-surface flow ofviscous fluids

An adaptive (Lagrangian) boundary-element approach is proposed for the gene ral three-dimensional simulation of confined free-surface flow of viscous i ncompressible fluids. The method is stable as it includes remeshing capabil ities of the deforming free surface, and thus can handle large deformations . A simple algorithm is developed for mesh refinement of the deforming free surface mesh. Smooth transition between large and small elements is achiev ed without significant degradation of the aspect ratio of the elements in t he mesh. Several flow problems are presented to illustrate the utility of t he approach. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.