Journal of Hydrology, 122 (1991) 275-287 275 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., Amsterdam [4] FINITE-ELEMENT METHOD FOR THE SOLUTION OF THE SAINT VENANT EQUATIONS IN AN OPEN CHANNEL NETWORK R. SZYMKIEWICZ Department of Hydrotechnics, Technical University of Gdansk, 80-952 Gdansk (Poland) (Received November 3, 1989; accepted after revision May 15, 1990) ABSTRACT ‘Seymkiewicz, R., 1991. Finite-element method for the solution of the Saint Venant equations in an open channel network. J. Hydrol., 122: 275-287. ‘The finite-element method is often used for the solution of complicated partial differential equations. The method is especially effective for two- and three-dimensional (2-D, 3-D) problems. Its application to one-dimensional (1-D) problems is usually considered to be unsuitable. However, using the finite-element method for the Saint Venant equations one can obtain a solution algorithm equally effective as the best known difference schemes. In this paper the method is applied to the solution of the Saint Venant equations. Use of the method eliminates oscillations of type ‘24x’, thus assuring a smooth and stable solution. An example from a real water channel network is analysed and the results obtained are compared with observations. INTRODUCTION The Saint Venant equations for unsteady flow in an open channel without lateral inflow take the form 2@ 2 (@) ch mi aial a * Gla) * FA a * 8 peg 7? (la) ah | 10Q a’ Ba? (1b) where: ¢ = time; x = longitudinal distance; —Q(x,t) = discharge; (x,t) = water surface elevation; A(x,t) = wetted cross-sectional area; R(x,t) = hydraulic radius; B(x,t) = free surface width; n = Manning coeffi- cient; g = gravitational acceleration. These are usually solved by finite-differ- ence methods, for given initial and boundary conditions. An extensive descrip- tion of the problems encountered in various finite-difference schemes can be found in many publications (e.g. Miller and Yevjewich, 1975, and Cunge et al., 1980). Amongst the many different schemes discussed, the four-point implicit- 0022-1694/91/803.50 © 1991 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V.276 R S2YMKIBWICZ, difference scheme has some advantages and is therefore often used for practical problems (see, e.g. Cunge et al., 1980, and Ball, 1985). The Saint Venant equations can also be solved by the finite-element method, as first proposed by Cooley and Moin (1976). Other examples showing the use of the finite-element method are described by Kantorowitch and Kutchment (1981) and Kantorowitch and Lysenko (1984). However, these studies do not indicate any advantages in the use of the method. Cunge et al. (1980), discussing methods of solution of the equations of unsteady flow in open channels, did not take the finite-element method into account and stated that for one-dimensional (1-D) problems the method is unreasonable. A comparison of the efficiency of the finite-element method and the four. point finite-difference scheme is presented by Granatowicz and Szymkiewicz (1989), who showed that these two methods are practically equivalent and give almost identical results. They also stated that these methods differ in their cost of calculation resulting from the different bandwidths of matrices in the final sets of algebraic equations. A bandwidth of 5 was required for the four-point implicit scheme and a bandwidth of 7 was required for the finite-element method. It is interesting to note that in the cases solved, the finite-element method better satisfied the equation of continuity. SOLUTION OF THE, SAINT VENANT EQUATIONS BY THE FINITE-ELEMENT METHOD The system of eqn. (1) is solved by the finite-element method using the Galerkin procedure. For application to unsteady flow, the finite-element method is used to obtain a discretization only in the spatial dimension. It thus leads to a system of ordinary differential equations with time as the indepen- dent variable and these are solved by difference schemes. The procedure is as follows, (1) A channel of length L is partitioned by M nodes into M ~— 1 elements each of length Ax, (see Fig. 1). (2) The functions in eqns. (1a) and (1b), Q(x.t), h(x,t) ... etc., are replaced by their approximations, Q, (x,t), h,(x,t) ... etc. The approximations are expressed by the unknown values functions at the nodal points, Q(t), A,(f) ... ete. and shape functions N,, which are known. (3) Approximations Q,, hy ..., ete., do not satisfy eqns. (1a) and (1b) accurately and show a residual R. According to the Galerkin procedure, described in detail by Zienkiewicz (1972), the best solution must minimize the weighted 1 2 i ist M en ae mt Lom) Lab * Fig. 1. Discretization of a simple channel.SOLUTION OF THE SAINT VENANT RQUATIONS 27 error at all points of the channel. To this end the shape functions N, are used as the weighting functions: p mo 4 [INFRax - f INJ'R dx = | IN]? OQ, Ay...) dx = 0 @) 0 mg where: Q = a symbolic representation of system (1) and the boundary conditions; [N] = [N,N, ... N.N;-, .. Ny] = shape functions which are functions of position; R = residual; L = length of channel; T = symbol of transposition; M = number of grid points. Integration of eqn. (2) provides a system of ordinary differential equations over time. The procedure of construc. tion of this system is typical of the finite-element method. (4) The system of ordinary differential equations over time is integrated by a difference scheme ‘To solve the system (1) the shape functions must be known. As in the papers of Cooley and Moin (1976) and Kantorowitch and Kutchment (1981) linear functions are here accepted. Any function f (x,f) existing in the system (1) has to be substituted into an element by its approximation f, as follows: LOD) =NOLO+N OKO (3) where x Ni@)-*—* forwe Cx. a> Ax, Nix), No (X) = 0 for xe Cy, 4) A C).1, tad Ax, = — x, — length of element. The condition (2) for the system (1) takes the form mr Tu |fe@ 2 (@ ah er Qia|, _ x! {ee wt a(G) +84 ee Sela =0 ae wi * (yay) far. 10@ yv a —+=— = Xf xe (G+ peso “) Then, in order to obtain the system of ordinary differential equations, one should calculate and sum the above integrals. However, the method of integra- tion has an effect on the final results, A usual procedure seems to be sub- stitution of all functions in (4a) and (4b) by their approximations in the form (3). This procedure was used by Cooley and Moin (1976) and Kantorowitch and Kutchment (1981) and the authors obtained oscillation of type '2Ax". As in the finite-difference method, the reason for these oscillations lies in the manner of approximation of the non-linear terms. To eliminate oscillation one should average the non-linear terms in space. Granatowicz and Szymkiewicz (1989)28 R, S2YMKIEWICZ used this procedure and obtained smooth results identical with those from the implicit four-point scheme. The functions and expressions of eqns. (4a) and (4b) ought to be approximated as follows: BY LM eh[S SG GE) foro 1"! Nay | (eh. 1 2Q y i Be TR ay <9 5 ae {x toy ae 7 Rae) ® ) In these equations the subscript ‘a’ denotes approximation according to the formula (3) whereas the subscript ‘c’ means that the function is constant in the element at a value equal to the average of the nodal points, namely fit fin f= 2A = const. for x € (x) m1.) 6) Integration of (5a) and (5b) gives the following system of equations: (1) fori = 1 90 8, 8 @, Mn), 1s - 2@ a oe. BEA A) ht hd in ent 2104 Al Ain 2 Qol@eai + Logn’ 0 (Ja) git dh, 4 1 6 at dS ABB) %t@v=? (te) (2) fori = 2,3... M —1 dQ. dQ, | dQ: 3 fa 3 Ge Ga 1 - _&@ aa 7 ae tan An A, "hx, Ai) An 1.5, 1.5; FR Ben + AD (han +) + BAY + AL) he I) Qi) QQ 2 QQ: + 15gn? ARE, * Ben st 15 gn? ARS, 7 0 (Te) dh fy dh Amy | OQ t@) | 6H @ +R.) ahi gah, BA At@) BH A+ OD) _ 1 a4 7a * ae 7B) * an(B+B.)® om (3) fori = M dQ 44Q 8 GG) 15e a +2. 3 (8 AL 7 + Re Aart Ad Ai, +h) + 15gn' 2a Blea L5gn* 4 (ie)SOLUTION OF THE SAINT VENANT EQUATIONS 279 dhs , gdh | 6 -@% 1+ Q) _ 4 ry = 7 dt di Ax,_.(B,., +B) ( which according to the matrix notation can be written as [S] {o}" + [C} {9} = {0} (8) where 10} = (QD, hy O, Qs O hy). Que (Oy Ry (O}" [S] banded matrix, symmetrical and constant; [C] banded matrix, asymmetrical and variable. This system is the typical initial value problem for the system of ordinary differential equations. For the solution of system (8) the best methods are those which are unconditionally stable, so-called A-stable methods (Jankowscy, 1981). These methods can be expressed by one common formula: (Pea = tbh + ADELA — 8) (Oh. + OLB} sd @) where: At = time step; @ = weighting parameter (for @ = 1it is implicit Euler method, for @ = 0.5 it is implicit trapezoidal rule). Substitution of (8) into (9) gives the set of equations in the form 19} = US] + At6 [C},a:) [Bheae — (Uh, = {0} (10) where [{U,; = [is (1 — @)At re.) he This is the system of non-linear algebraic equations which must be solved for the boundary conditions specified for system (1). TECHNIQUE OF CONSTRUCTION AND SOLUTION OF THE SYSTEM OF NON-LINEAR EQUATIONS The system (10) is solved by the Newton method (Dahlquist and Bjorck, 1983) where the iteration process has the form II Ca}? = {O}ar) = o}” an where: [J] = Jacobian matrix; {g} = column vector of residuals; k = index of iteration. Thus in every iteration the system of linear equations is solved, The system (11) has the dimension 2M x 2M and the Jacobian matrix [J] is banded like the matrix of system (10). For a simple channel containing eight nodes the matrix has the structure shown in Fig. 2. In this system two elements of the vector of unknowns are obtained from the boundary conditions. Thus, equations corresponding to these elements are eliminated from the system. These are the two equations from 1,2,M ~ 1,M which depend on the prescribed280 R SZYMKIEWICZ, Non zero entry Fig. 2. Single channel coefficient matrix. boundary conditions. For this purpose the method proposed by Zienkiewicz (1972), which does not change the matrix structure, can be used. In the case of the channel network, apart from boundary conditions, additional conditions have to be specified within the system at the connection points of channels. They can be expressed by (see Fig. 3) ha=hn~hy (12) Qa @&+ @® (13) These conditions can be specified more precisely if one takes into account the flow velocities in channels (see, e.g. Ball, 1985). For natural channels, eqns (12) and (13) are usually sufficient. —~ x Ao Fig. 3. Channel connections.SOLUTION OF THE SAINT VENANT EQUATIONS 15 Fig. 4. Three channel network. we ae aT eee I eee | Sra #-non zero entry Fig. 5. Matrix of coefficients for channel network shown in Fig. 4282, R SZYMKIEWICZ The matrix of system (11) for the channel network consists of submatrices describing each channel individually. The number of submatrices is equal to the number of arms of the channel network. The equations for nodes of channel connections are replaced by eqns. (12) and (13). In this manner individual submatrices are connected into one system of equations. The matrix obtained for the channel network from Fig. 4 is presented in Fig. 5. From this system the equations corresponding to the prescribed boundary conditions must be eliminated. For a simple channel the matrix [J] is banded with seven non-zero diagonals (Fig. 2). To solve system (11) the Gauss elimination method can be used. For a channel network one also obtains a banded matrix, but it is a sparse matrix of wide bandwidth. The bandwidth depends on the nodal numbering scheme. Therefore to solve the system of equations (11) a frontal method is used (Szmelter, 1980). This method uses only non-zero elements. NUMERICAL EXPERIMENT. The proposed method of solution of the Saint Venant equations was used for the calculation of unsteady flows through the network of water channels shown in Fig. 6. This channel network is composed of: (1) the Elblag River (which connects the Vistula Lagoon with Lake Druzno) of length 17.7km, of width (at water level) 35-64m, and of depth 2.0-4.25m; (2) the Nogat River (the regulated cut-off arm of the Vistula River) of length 22.7km, width ~ 125m, and depth 2.5m; (3) the Jagiellonski Channel (which connects the Nogat River with the Elblag River) of length 5.73km, width 36m, and depth 2.70 m. The unsteady flows are caused by changes of water level in the Vistula Lagoon. These water-level fluctuations, generated by wind, have amplitudes of ~ 3.0m (of +1.5m to —1.5m from the mean sea level) and cause flows of changing directions. Depending on the water levels in the Vistula Lagoon and in Lake Druzno, water may flow in or out of the lake. An initial condition is determined by the hydrostatic state of the channel system. For t = 0, A(x,t) = hy = const. and Q(x,t) = 0. The boundary conditions are specified as follows (1) at points A and B adjacent to the Vistula Lagoon the function hy (t) representing water level elevation in the lagoon is known, i.e. ha (t), hp (= hy) (2) at point C a lock is located which cuts off the flow Qe (t) = 0 (8) at point D the Elblag River falls into Lake Druzno. At this point, either the function hy (t) or Qp (#) is not known. However, it is possible to assume a differential equation for lake retention in the following form: diy 1 E> Fay OO + ahSOLUTION OF THE SAINT VENANT EQUATIONS 283 Vistula Lagoon wy) 2 8 S 2 | 54°75" N _ mee Jagiellonski | Channel 4 measuring point scale 2 4 km Fig. 6. Natural channel network for sample application. with the initial condition hp (t = 0) = ho, where: F (hk) = water surface of the lake; q (t) = water inflow from the catchment area. Lake Druzno, of mean depth 1.20m, is surrounded by flood banks. Its water surface area F depends on water level. This dependence is described by the function 13.0 (km*) forh <0 F(h) =< (13.0 + 200 h?*) (km?) for0 < h < 0.3m 27.0 (km?) for hk > 0.3m The largest area of water surface, F = 27km’, occurs when the water level in the lake reaches the toe of the flood banks. This occurs at h = 0.30m. In the284 hd [ml] 1.0 as 06: BR, SEYMEIEWICZ, --- calculations «observations points A,B 84 108 132 tlh] ‘ \ / . “J Sw” point ¢ 8 108 732 t (hl 06 ~ ow ! ay 02 } A pont € ont } “Sp 38 6 86 108 132. tin) -02 sf 08 0.4 see 02 ’ point 0 00 ——- 2 38 60 a 108 132th] v.05 | 12.10.65 | 1310.85 | 14.10.65 | 15.10.85 | 16.70.85 | 17.10.65 Fig. 7. Predicted and observed water surface level: example 1SOLUTION OF THE SAINT VENANT EQUATIONS 285 Alm) --- calculations 10 © observations 08 06 04 02 points A,B 00 2% 48 2 96 20 th) H point C 48 ” 96 120 tthl 08 wf 08: hn . aaa Ou a“ : a 0247775 | ‘i point & 09: 2 48 n 96 thn) point D a0; m% 48 7 96 ttl | 19.12.06 | 2092.86 | 2112.86 | 22.12.85 | 2312.86 | 24.12.86 | Fig. 8. Predicted and observed water surface level: example 2286 R. SZYMKIEWICZ, whole channel network there were 52 computational nodes at intervals of 0.7-1.0km. Two series of observations of water surface level in the Vistula Lagoon were used. These data were assumed as the boundary conditions at points A and B in the network, i.e. as hy (t) and Ag (t). The calculation consists of the simulation of unsteady flows in the channel network caused by the above-mentioned boundary conditions. In Figs. 7 and 8 observed water levels A, (¢) and Ag (t) and calculated water levels at points C, E and D, i.e. he (t), he (t) and Ay (O) are presented. These results were obtained for At = 1800s, n = 0.022 and q (t) = 8m’s' = const. In every time step, two or three iterations were made. The accuracy of the solution obtained was e = max (AS? — AM) <0001m (i = 1,2....M) The calculations showed that in this case the implicit Euler scheme (@ = 1) as well as the implicit trapezoidal rule (# = 0.5) give results only insignifi- cantly different. In Figs. 7 and 8, the observed water levels at points E and D are also presented. Though these last observations were not continuous, they show good agreement with calculated water levels, proving the correctness of the proposed solution algorithm of the Saint Venant equation by the finite-element method. CONCLUSIONS The results show that the finite-element method is an effective tool in the solution of unsteady flows in open channels. The proposed solution algorithm is clear and simple. It appears that the finite-element method can be success- fully applied for practical problems as an alternative to the well-known difference schemes. REFERENCES Ball, J.E,, 1985. An algorithm for routing unsteady flow in urban drainage networks. J. Hydraul. Res., 23: 327-341. Cooley, R.L. and Moin, S.A., 1976. Finite element solution of Saint Venant equations. J. Hydraul. Div., HY6: 759-775. Cunge, J., Holly, dr., F.M. and Verwey, A., 1980. Practical Aspect of Computational River Hydraulics. Pitman, London, 420 pp. Dahlquist, G. and Bjorck, A., 1983. Numerical Methods. Panstwowe Wyolawnictwo Naukowe, Warsaw, 546 pp. (Polish edition). Granatowicz, J. and Szymkiewicz, R., 1989. Comparison of efficiency of the solution of the Saint Venant equations by finite element method and finite difference method. Arch. Hydrotech., 3-4: 199-210 (in Polish). dankowscy, J.M., 1981. Survey of Numerical Methods and Algorithms. Part | Wydawnictwa, Naukowo-Techniczne, Warsaw, 212pp. (in Polish). Kantorowitch, B.K. and Kutchment, L.S., 1981. Finite element method for calculation of unsteady flow by the Saint Venant equations. Wodnyje Res., 6: 45-53 (in Russian).SOLUTION OF THE SAINT VENANT EQUATIONS 287 Kantorowitch, B.K. and Lysenko, T.A., 1984, Comparison of the results of calculation of unsteady flow in the Jenisej River estuary. Wodnyje Res. 4: 30-34 (in Russian), Miller, W.A. and Yevjewich, V., 1975. Unsteady flow in open channels. Water Resour. Publ.. Fort Collins, CO. Szmelter, J., 1980. Computer Methods in Mechanics. Panstwowe Wyolawnictwo Naukowe. Warsaw, 293 pp. (in Polish). Zienkiewicz. 0., 1972. The Finite Element Method. Arkady, Warsaw. 458 pp. (Polish edition).