See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/262822245

Fluid mechanics and the SPH method: theory and applications

Article in Journal of Hydraulic Research · June 2013

DOI: 10.1080/00221686.2013.790850

CITATIONS READS

3 2,679

1 author:

Stefano Sibilla
University of Pavia
75 PUBLICATIONS 2,082 CITATIONS

SEE PROFILE

All content following this page was uploaded by Stefano Sibilla on 14 June 2015.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

This article was downloaded by: [Universita Studi di Pavia]
On: 21 June 2013, At: 02:25
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer
House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

Journal of Hydraulic Research

Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information:
http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/tjhr20

Fluid mechanics and the SPH method: theory and

applications
a
Stefano Sibilla
a
University of Pavia , Italy
Published online: 10 May 2013.

To cite this article: Stefano Sibilla (2013): Fluid mechanics and the SPH method: theory and applications, Journal of
Hydraulic Research, 51:3, 339-340

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00221686.2013.790850

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Full terms and conditions of use: http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic
reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to
anyone is expressly forbidden.

The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents
will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae, and drug doses
should be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions,
claims, proceedings, demand, or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or
indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material.
 Journal of Hydraulic Research Vol. 51, No. 3 (2013), pp. 339–340
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00221686.2013.790850

Book review

Fluid mechanics and the SPH method: theory and applications

by Damien Violeau, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2012, 616 pp., £75.00, ISBN-13: 978-0-199-65552-6 (e-book),
DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199655526.001.0001

Smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) is one of the most

popular mesh-free methods in computational fluid mechanics,
Downloaded by [Universita Studi di Pavia] at 02:26 21 June 2013

especially when the required solution involves heterogeneous

media or rapidly moving free surfaces. Several review articles
and books have been written in recent years to describe the fun-
damentals of the method and its application to the simulation of
different flows. Now, Damien Violeau exploits his vast experi-
ence as researcher at Électricité de France (EDF) and as former
chairman of the SPH European Research Interest Community
(SPHERIC) to propose SPH from a rather different perspective.
As the author states in the introduction, while working on SPH,
he realized the close links of the method to theoretical mechan-
ics and he developed the idea of a book showing how such
a Lagrangian method stems directly from the fundamentals of
hydraulics. This book comes therefore from the desire to anal-
yse in detail the way in which the correct SPH algorithms can be
obtained and explained directly from the principles of Lagrangian
and Hamiltonian mechanics, as well as of statistical mechanics.
The title of the book already clarifies the goal of the author: not
simply “Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics” but “Fluid mechan-
ics and the SPH method”, i.e. the main scope is to lay down all
of the physical and mathematical bricks which build up the SPH
method (particle and continuum mechanics, incompressible and
weakly compressible fluid dynamics, turbulence) in a rigorous
and coherent frame before bringing them together to explain the
most recent developments regarding interpolation techniques,
accuracy, stability analysis, time integration schemes, boundary
treatment and turbulence models.
It must be underlined that this consequential layout is not analysis on the ability of each scheme to preserve the Hamiltonian
a mere matter of love for a rigorous mathematical formalism structure of the equations of mechanics within the discretized
(which should nevertheless be required in a text on computa- time context, which eventually leads to his justified preference
tional fluid dynamics): all the properties of the most efficient for the symplectic time integrator.
numerical algorithms used in SPH are always derived from Following its scope, the book is therefore organized into two
the previously outlined principles of fundamental mechanics. main parts, dealing with the physics of weakly compressible
Just to make a specific example, when the author investigates fluids and with the SPH method in hydraulics, respectively.
the energy-conserving properties of the different time integra- Each part is divided into four chapters. In the first part, the first
tion schemes for the SPH discretized equations, he founds his chapter describes the bases of the mechanics of particle systems:
ISSN 0022-1686 print/ISSN 1814-2079 online
http://www.tandfonline.com
339
 340 Book review
it starts from the postulate of the least action principle, which
leads to the formulation of the Lagrange equations, and formu-
lates the conservation principles of the fundamental mechanical
quantities, summarized in the Hamilton equations. The second
chapter shifts to the description of the behaviour of large parti-
cle systems in a statistical way, leading to the formulation of the
Boltzmann equation and to the introduction of the concepts of
entropy and dissipation. The third chapter recalls the equations
of the dynamics of a viscous fluid, with a particular emphasis
on the application of variational principles to fluids, which lead to
the derivation of the continuous Lagrange equations. The role of
the pressure as a Lagrange multiplier associated with the incom-
pressibility condition is also highlighted, setting the theoretical
frame to discuss SPH incompressible schemes. The foundations
on which SPH is built are completed in the fourth chapter, where
the author’s experience in the field of turbulent flows yields a
Downloaded by [Universita Studi di Pavia] at 02:26 21 June 2013
wide discussion on turbulence, stemming from the theory of
chaos and reaching the efficiency and deficiencies of the various
closure models for the Reynolds-averaged equations.
In its second part, the book comes to the core of its subject.
In the fifth chapter, SPH is explained in all of its features, prop-
erties, strengths and weaknesses. The thorough discussion on
continuous and discrete kernel interpolation includes considera-
tions on the order of consistency of the SPH discrete interpolation
near the boundaries, on the skew-adjointness property of the dis-
crete gradient and divergence operators in their different SPH
forms, on the renormalization of such operators to restore the
consistency of the method. It is shown that the SPH form of
the equations of fluid dynamics can be derived directly from the
Lagrange equations for a system of interacting fluid particles.
Various time integration schemes for the SPH discrete equations
are then proposed and their numerical stability is investigated.
View publication stats
Journal of Hydraulic Research Vol. 51, No. 3 (2013)
The sixth chapter deals instead with some of the specific aspects
of SPH where the author’s contribution has been most valuable,
namely the modelling of second-order differential operators (and
hence the SPH solution of the Navier–Stokes equations), the
treatment of boundaries (here limited to the modelling of sur-
face tension and to the different methods to enforce solid wall
boundary conditions) and the development of turbulence closure
models for SPH, from one- and two-equation models to large
eddy simulation. The last two chapters of the book show the
effect of different modelling choices on the SPH solution of sev-
eral benchmark cases and some practical applications of SPH
to flows of interest in hydraulic engineering, including seashore
protection works, fish passes and dam spillways.
In conclusion, this book is certainly a valuable reference for
the knowledge and understanding of SPH in the field of hydraulic
research. It will be useful for advanced undergraduate courses on
computational fluid dynamics, because it covers all the basic
aspects on SPH, yielding also a comprehensive and rigorous
introduction to fluid mechanics. It will be useful for the grad-
uate student who plans his doctoral research on SPH, because
it deeply reviews the power and the drawbacks of the method
and allows him to reason carefully on the different available
algorithms and modelling options. Most of all, it will be use-
ful for the experienced SPH researcher, because it goes through
the method rather unconventionally, always tackling the most
discussed issues from an original point of view and giving a
number of hints for further research.
Stefano Sibilla
University of Pavia, Italy
Email: stefano.sibilla@unipv.it
© 2013, Stefano Sibilla