Maritime Engineering Laboratory. LIM/UPC

Numerical Modelling

The iCIEM numerical laboratory, managed by the LIM/UPC research group, has a set of advanced state-of-the-art computational models, both in-house developed and adapted, with the capacity to provide services ranging from the replication of small- and large-scale physical models to pre-operational meteo-oceanographic forecasting systems at coastal and shelf scales.

The LIM/UPC is also a co-developer of the open-source code DualSPHysics , one of the most widely used programs internationally for the numerical simulation of free-surface flows using the Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) technique.

Examples of simulations with DualSPHysics

Within this range of capabilities, the numerical laboratory can also simulate, for example:

  • Wave and wave-current flumes in 2DV and 3D
  • Wave and current interaction with structures in 2D and 3D
  • Wave and current interaction with sediments in 2DV and 3D

In addition, it has hydrodynamic toolboxes for the simulation of works in the open sea, on the continental shelf or in the nearshore zone; morphodynamic toolboxes for modelling the evolution of the seabed and beaches, both in profile and plan view; and water-quality toolboxes for the simulation of dispersion and water quality in local, near-field, and regional, far-field, analyses.

All these models and tools can be appropriately combined to provide a risk-analysis framework and the individual assessment of specific situations.

Services offered by the iCIEM numerical node

  • Numerical modelling of waves / wave-current interaction in flumes (2DV)
  • Numerical modelling of waves / wave-current interaction in 3D
  • Numerical modelling of wave-current interaction with structures (2DV / 3D)
  • Numerical modelling of wave-current interaction with sediments (2DV / 3D)
  • Hydrodynamic toolbox for waves / currents in the open sea and on the continental shelf
  • Hydrodynamic toolbox for waves / currents in coastal zones
  • Morphodynamic toolbox for the evolution of the seabed and beach profiles / planform
  • Dispersion and water-quality toolbox for local and regional analysis
  • Risk-analysis framework for specific assessments
  • Pre-operational coastal and shelf meteo-oceanographic forecasting systems

Examples:

Propagation of a tsunami along the Catalan coast using the COMCOT model.

Validation of the flood line during Storm Celia on the Sant Miquel/Sant Sebastià and Barceloneta beaches in Barcelona using the XBeach model and data obtained during the field campaign carried out within the MARLIT project (Sánchez-Artús et al., 2025).

Spatial distribution of surface velocity magnitude, shown by the colour scale in m/s, in the BCHBCN region.

Temporal evolution in Fangar Bay, July 2019: a) wind speed, in black, and wind direction, blue dots, with grey boxes indicating strong NW wind events; b) eastward currents simulated with ROMS, outflow in red and inflow in blue; c) nitrate: observations, stars, versus model, blue line; d) chlorophyll a at CIF, orange, and CF, blue: in situ measurements shown as stars, satellite data as dots, and ROMS outputs as lines.