TY - JOUR AB - Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to apply the variational iterations method to solve two difference types such as the modified Boussinesq (MB) and seven‐order Sawada‐Kotara (sSK) equations and to compare this method with that obtained previously by Adomian decomposition.Design/methodology/approach– The variational iteration method is used for finding the solution of the MB and sSK equations. The solution obtained is an infinite power series for appropriate initial condition. The numerical results obtain for nth approximation and compare with the known analytical solutions; the results show that an excellent approximation to the actual solution of the equations was achieved by using only three iterations.Findings– The comparison demonstrates that the two obtained solutions are an excellent agreement. The numerical results calculated show that this method, variational iteration method, can be readily implemented to this type of nonlinear equation and excellent accuracy can be achieved. The results of variation iteration method confirm the correctness of those obtained by means of Adomian decomposition method.Originality/value– The results presented in this paper show that the variational iteration method is a powerful mathematical tool for solving the MB and the sSK equations; it is also a promising method for solving other nonlinear equations. VL - 21 IS - 3 SN - 0961-5539 DO - 10.1108/09615531111108495 UR - https://doi.org/10.1108/09615531111108495 AU - Soliman A.A. PY - 2011 Y1 - 2011/01/01 TI - A numerical simulation of modified Boussinesq and seven‐order Sawada‐Kotara equations T2 - International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow PB - Emerald Group Publishing Limited SP - 320 EP - 330 Y2 - 2024/05/09 ER -