Abstract: A method for simulation of free surface problems is presented. Based on the viscous incompressible Navier-Stokes equations, space discretization of the flow is obtained by the least square finite element method. The time evolution is obtained by the finite difference method. Lagrangian description is used to track the free surface. The results are compared with the experimental dam break results, including water collapse in a 2D rectangular section and in a 3D cylinder section. A good agreement is achieved for the distance of surge front as well as the height of the residual column.

Key words: Lagrangian description, dam break experiment, incompressible viscous fluid, least square finite element method