A FINITE-ELEMENT ANALYSIS OF MACH REFLECTION BY USING THE BOUSSINESQ EQUATION

The numerical analysis of 'Mach reflection', which is the reflection o f an obliquely incident solitary wave by a vertical wall, is presented . For the mathematical model of the analysis, the two-dimensional Bous sinesq equation is used. In order to solve the equation in space, the finite element method based on the linear triangular element and the c onventional Galerkin method is applied. The combination of explicit an d semi-implicit schemes is employed for the time integration. Moreover , one of the treatments for the open boundary condition, in which the analytical solution of the linearized Boussinesq equation in the outsi de domain is linked to the discrete values of velocity and water eleva tion in the inside domain, is applied for the modeling of the Mach ref lection problem. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.