This student project investigates numerical simulation of wave propagation in simplified urban environments using the shallow water equations. The work focuses on developing a Runge-Kutta discontinuous Galerkin solver for two-dimensional flow and applying it to both idealized domains and an urban mesh representing the Avenyn area in Gothenburg.
The solver uses a Lax-Friedrichs numerical flux, reflective boundary conditions, and building-wall interfaces so that waves interact with buildings as obstacles. A total variation bounded slope limiter is included to improve stability near steep gradients. Benchmark tests were performed using reference solutions generated with pyswashes, followed by simulations on square, rectangular, and urban domains. The results show that the method can capture wave propagation, reflection, and interaction with building geometry. Without the slope limiter, the urban simulation may become unstable, while the limited version remains stable and preserves the main propagation pattern.
The project is a step toward physics-based flood simulation in urban digital twin frameworks. Further development would include non-flat terrain, wetting and drying, friction, rainfall, drainage, and improved computational performance.
Student: Cecilia Huang
Supervisor: Anders Logg
This work is carried out in collaboration with the Digital Twin Cities Centre (DTCC)