In this work, we consider a multilayer shallow water model with variable density. It consists of a system of hyperbolic equations with non-conservative products that takes into account the pressure variations due to density fluctuations in a stratified fluid. A second-order finite volume method that combines a hydrostatic reconstruction technique with a MUSCL second order reconstruction operator is developed. The scheme is well-balanced for the lake-at-rest steady state solutions. Additionally, hints on how to preserve a general class of stationary solutions corresponding to a stratified density profile are also provided. Some numerical results are presented, including validation with laboratory data that show the efficiency and accuracy of the approach introduced here. Finally, a comparison between two different parallelization strategies on GPU is presented.

In this work, we present a novel numerical discretization of a variable pressure multilayer shallow water model. The model can be written as a hyperbolic PDE system and allows the simulation of density driven gravity currents in a shallow water framework. The proposed discretization consists in an unlimited arbitrary high order accurate (ADER) Discontinuous Galerkin (DG) method, which is then limited with the MOOD paradigm using an a posteriori subcell finite volume limiter. The resulting numerical scheme is arbitrary high order accurate in space and time for smooth solutions and does not destroy the natural subcell resolution inherent in the DG methods in the presence of strong gradients or discontinuities. A numerical strategy to preserve non-trivial stationary solutions is also discussed. The final method is very accurate in smooth regions even using coarse or very coarse meshes, as shown in the numerical simulations presented here. Finally, a comparison with a laboratory test, where empirical data are available, is also performed.

This work introduces a general strategy to develop well-balanced high-order Discontinuous Galerkin (DG) numerical schemes for systems of balance laws. The essence of our approach is a local projection step that guarantees the exactly well-balanced character of the resulting numerical method for smooth stationary solutions. The strategy can be adapted to some well-known different time marching DG discretisations. Particularly, in this article, Runge–Kutta DG and ADER DG methods are studied. Additionally, a limiting procedure based on a modified WENO approach is described to deal with the spurious oscillations generated in the presence of non-smooth solutions, keeping the well-balanced properties of the scheme intact. The resulting numerical method is then exactly well-balanced and high-order in space and time for smooth solutions. Finally, some numerical results are depicted using different systems of balance laws to show the performance of the introduced numerical strategy.