Numerical modelling is an increasingly valuable tool for the analysis of coastal and maritime processes, offering a complementary approach to physical model testing and field measurements. In problems involving wave breaking, violent free-surface flows, wave–structure interaction, floating bodies, coastal protection structures and complex bathymetries, mesh-based methods may face important limitations. Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH), as a meshless and Lagrangian technique, is particularly well suited to simulate large deformations of the free surface, moving boundaries and highly nonlinear hydrodynamic processes.
In the latest years, SPH has become a mature numerical approach for engineering applications, including coastal defence, wave energy systems, overtopping, impact loads, floating structures and armour-layer stability. Its ability to represent complex geometries and violent hydrodynamics makes it especially relevant for the analysis of real-life coastal and maritime engineering problems.
DualSPHysics is an open-source SPH code developed to address real engineering problems and can be freely downloaded from www.dual.sphysics.org. The code provides a powerful framework for simulating wave generation, wave propagation, wave breaking, wave–structure interaction, floating bodies and coastal protection systems. It can be used as a complementary tool to physical model experiments, supporting the interpretation of laboratory results and the preliminary design of structures exposed to energetic wave conditions. The code includes dedicated pre- and post-processing tools, allowing users to define geometries from different input formats, including CAD, STL and bathymetric data. Advanced post-processing capabilities enable the extraction of flow variables, wave conditions, forces and other relevant physical quantities at arbitrary locations within the computational domain.
This course will introduce the basic principles of SPH and DualSPHysics, with a particular focus on coastal and maritime engineering applications. The programme will combine theoretical lectures with hands-on sessions based on practical examples inspired by experimental campaigns carried out in the CIEMito and CIEM wave flumes at UPC.
The course will cover wave generation in DualSPHysics, wave propagation and breaking, the use of external geometries and bathymetric data, active and passive wave absorption systems, and the coupling between DualSPHysics and SWASH through the transfer of open boundary conditions.
The course will take place at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya - BarcelonaTech (UPC) from 20th to 22nd October 2026. It is primarily aimed at PhD students and early-stage researchers, but it is open to anyone interested in SPH modelling, DualSPHysics and numerical tools for coastal and maritime engineering. Participation will be free of charge.
The course will feature invited trainers from the DualSPHysics and coastal modelling community, including Prof. Moncho Gomez-Gesteira and Prof. Alex Crespo from Universidade de Vigo, Dr. Tomohiro Suzuki and Dr. Salvatore Capasso from KU Leuven, and Dr. Bonaventura Tagliafierro from Uppsala University.