diff --git a/test/common/geometry/CMakeLists.txt b/test/common/geometry/CMakeLists.txt
index f1a6d093ce7bb5caa35dd1dfdf4a9921e674c87c..42222c5fff97304266a86384a1e8436ae4b74b0b 100644
--- a/test/common/geometry/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/test/common/geometry/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ dumux_add_test(SOURCES test_1d3d_intersection.cc LABELS unit)
dumux_add_test(SOURCES test_1d2d_intersection.cc LABELS unit)
dumux_add_test(SOURCES test_2d2d_intersection.cc LABELS unit)
dumux_add_test(SOURCES test_2d3d_intersection.cc LABELS unit)
+dumux_add_test(SOURCES test_distance.cc LABELS unit)
dumux_add_test(SOURCES test_graham_convex_hull.cc LABELS unit)
dumux_add_test(SOURCES test_intersectingentity_cartesiangrid.cc LABELS unit)
dumux_add_test(SOURCES test_circlepoints.cc LABELS unit)
diff --git a/test/common/geometry/test_distance.cc b/test/common/geometry/test_distance.cc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..aecb71223d21865745c05e4e0ef730af2ccbb15a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/common/geometry/test_distance.cc
@@ -0,0 +1,182 @@
+// -*- mode: C++; tab-width: 4; indent-tabs-mode: nil; c-basic-offset: 4 -*-
+// vi: set et ts=4 sw=4 sts=4:
+/*****************************************************************************
+ * See the file COPYING for full copying permissions. *
+ * *
+ * This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify *
+ * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by *
+ * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or *
+ * (at your option) any later version. *
+ * *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, *
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of *
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the *
+ * GNU General Public License for more details. *
+ * *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License *
+ * along with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>. *
+ *****************************************************************************/
+/*!
+ * \file
+ * \brief Test for distance computations.
+ */
+#include <config.h>
+
+#include <vector>
+#include <random>
+#include <cmath>
+
+#include <dune/common/fvector.hh>
+#include <dune/common/float_cmp.hh>
+#include <dune/common/exceptions.hh>
+
+#include <dune/geometry/affinegeometry.hh>
+#include <dune/geometry/multilineargeometry.hh>
+
+#include <dumux/common/geometry/distance.hh>
+
+// helper function to make point geometry from field vector
+template<class Point, int dimWorld>
+Point makePoint(const Dune::FieldVector<typename Point::ctype, dimWorld>& p)
+{
+ using GlobalPosition = Dune::FieldVector<typename Point::ctype, dimWorld>;
+ using Corners = std::vector<GlobalPosition>;
+ return { Dune::GeometryTypes::vertex, Corners{{p}} };
+}
+
+// helper function to make a segment geometry from field vectors
+template<class Segment, int dimWorld>
+Segment makeSegment(const Dune::FieldVector<typename Segment::ctype, dimWorld>& p1,
+ const Dune::FieldVector<typename Segment::ctype, dimWorld>& p2)
+{
+ using GlobalPosition = Dune::FieldVector<typename Segment::ctype, dimWorld>;
+ using Corners = std::vector<GlobalPosition>;
+ return { Dune::GeometryTypes::line, Corners{{p1, p2}} };
+}
+
+// helper function to make a vector normal to the given one
+template<class ctype, int dimWorld>
+Dune::FieldVector<ctype, dimWorld>
+makeNormalVector(const Dune::FieldVector<ctype, dimWorld>& v)
+{
+ static_assert(dimWorld > 1, "This only works in 2d or 3d");
+
+ Dune::FieldVector<ctype, dimWorld> n(0.0);
+
+ // treat 3d vectors with entries (0, 0, z) differently
+ if (dimWorld == 2 || Dune::FloatCmp::ne(v[0], 0.0)
+ || Dune::FloatCmp::ne(v[1], 0.0))
+ { n[0] = -v[1]; n[1] = v[0]; }
+ else
+ { n[0] = 1.0; }
+
+ return n;
+}
+
+// sample a point on a sphere with the given radius
+template<class Point>
+Point samplePointOnSphere(typename Point::ctype radius)
+{
+ static std::default_random_engine generator(std::random_device{}());
+ static constexpr int dimWorld = Point::coorddimension;
+ static_assert(dimWorld > 1, "This only works in 2d or 3d");
+
+ // sample a point from random coordinates
+ std::uniform_real_distribution<double> distro(-radius, radius);
+
+ auto p = dimWorld == 2 ? makePoint<Point, dimWorld>({distro(generator), distro(generator)})
+ : makePoint<Point, dimWorld>({distro(generator), distro(generator), distro(generator)});
+
+ // project it onto the sphere
+ auto pos = p.corner(0);
+ pos *= radius/pos.two_norm();
+ p = makePoint<Point>(pos);
+
+ return p;
+}
+
+// checks the result of a distance computation
+template<class ctype>
+void checkGeometryDistance(ctype expected, ctype computed, const std::string& geometryPairName)
+{
+ if (Dune::FloatCmp::ne(expected, computed))
+ DUNE_THROW(Dune::InvalidStateException, "Unexpected " << geometryPairName << " distance ");
+}
+
+// checks the distances between various points with points/segments/lines
+template<class Point, class Segment>
+void runTests()
+{
+ using namespace Dumux;
+
+ using ctype = typename Point::ctype;
+ using GlobalPosition = typename Point::GlobalCoordinate;
+
+ const auto origin = makePoint<Point>(GlobalPosition(0.0));
+ for (ctype scale : {1e-12, 1.0, 1e12})
+ {
+ // check distances for some random points in a known distance
+ for (int i = 0; i < 20; ++i)
+ {
+ const auto p = samplePointOnSphere<Point>(scale);
+
+ // test point-point distance
+ checkGeometryDistance(scale, distance(origin, p), "point-point");
+
+ // test point-segment distance (where projection is on the segment)
+ auto n = makeNormalVector(p.corner(0));
+ n *= scale/n.two_norm();
+
+ auto segment = makeSegment<Segment>(origin.corner(0) + n, p.corner(0) + n);
+ checkGeometryDistance(scale, distance(segment, p), "point-segment");
+
+ // test point-segment distance (where projection is NOT on segment)
+ auto v = p.corner(0);
+
+ using std::sqrt;
+ auto segment2 = makeSegment<Segment>(segment.corner(0) - v, segment.corner(1) - v);
+ checkGeometryDistance(sqrt(2.0)*scale, distance(segment2, p), "segment-segment");
+
+ v *= 2.0;
+ auto segment3 = makeSegment<Segment>(segment.corner(0) + v, segment.corner(1) + v);
+ checkGeometryDistance(sqrt(2.0)*scale, distance(segment2, p), "segment-segment");
+
+ // for lines, we should always get a distance of scale
+ checkGeometryDistance(scale, distancePointLine(p.corner(0), segment.corner(0), segment.corner(1)), "segment-segment");
+ checkGeometryDistance(scale, distancePointLine(p.corner(0), segment2.corner(0), segment2.corner(1)), "segment-segment");
+ checkGeometryDistance(scale, distancePointLine(p.corner(0), segment3.corner(0), segment3.corner(1)), "segment-segment");
+ }
+ }
+}
+
+int main(int argc, char** argv) try
+{
+ // affine geometries (2d)
+ runTests< Dune::AffineGeometry<double, 0, 2>, Dune::AffineGeometry<double, 1, 2> >();
+
+ // affine geometries (3d)
+ runTests< Dune::AffineGeometry<double, 0, 3>, Dune::AffineGeometry<double, 1, 3> >();
+
+ // multilinear geometries (2d)
+ runTests< Dune::MultiLinearGeometry<double, 0, 2>, Dune::MultiLinearGeometry<double, 1, 2> >();
+
+ // multilinear geometries (3d)
+ runTests< Dune::MultiLinearGeometry<double, 0, 3>, Dune::MultiLinearGeometry<double, 1, 3> >();
+
+ // mixed types (2d)
+ runTests< Dune::AffineGeometry<double, 0, 2>, Dune::MultiLinearGeometry<double, 1, 2> >();
+ runTests< Dune::MultiLinearGeometry<double, 0, 2>, Dune::AffineGeometry<double, 1, 2> >();
+
+ // mixed types (3d)
+ runTests< Dune::AffineGeometry<double, 0, 3>, Dune::MultiLinearGeometry<double, 1, 3> >();
+ runTests< Dune::MultiLinearGeometry<double, 0, 3>, Dune::AffineGeometry<double, 1, 3> >();
+
+ return 0;
+}
+// //////////////////////////////////
+// Error handler
+// /////////////////////////////////
+catch (const Dune::Exception& e) {
+ std::cout << e << std::endl;
+ return 1;
+}