An efficient curvilinear non‐hydrostatic model for simulating surface water waves

An efficient curvilinear non‐hydrostatic free surface model is developed to simulate surface water waves in horizontally curved boundaries. The generalized curvilinear governing equations are solved by a fractional step method on a rectangular transformed domain. Of importance is to employ a higher order (either quadratic or cubic spline function) integral method for the top‐layer non‐hydrostatic pressure under a staggered grid framework. Model accuracy and efficiency, in terms of required vertical layers, are critically examined on a linear progressive wave case. The model is then applied to simulate waves propagating in a canal with variable widths, cnoidal wave runup around a circular cylinder, and three‐dimensional wave transformation in a circular channel. Overall the results show that the curvilinear non‐hydrostatic model using a few, e.g. 2–4, vertical layers is capable of simulating wave dispersion, diffraction, and reflection due to curved sidewalls. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.