Spectral element modeling of sediment transport in shear flows

Climate change and accelerated sea level rise coupled with increased human activities in coastal regions have resulted in severe land loss globally. Mitigating coastal erosion requires better understanding and improved capability of modeling sediment transport. This paper presents the methodology and simulation results of a new mathematical model, Virtual Identity Particles, using a spectral/hp element method for sediment transport driven by shear flows. Assimilated the advantages of Eulerian and Lagrangian methods, this model is capable of modeling each individual grain as well as a bulk of numerous grains where frequent collisions between particles and with walls are characterized by the Speed Proportional Collisions. Besides, this model maintains an excellent balance of accuracy and efficiency through its economical considerations in the formulation, allowing modeling a large number of sediment particles. Simulation results demonstrate that this model holds promising potential for investigating sediment transport and the associated land erosion problems.