Environmental Fluids and Coastal Engineering

For many years the fluids group has focused on fundamental aspects of fluid flow behaviour relating to river, coastal, offshore and wind engineering. During this period a world class reputation for research of the highest international standard has been established, based largely on detailed experiments at laboratory and field scale. Recent work has extended to the development and application of advanced numerical models of coastal hydrodynamics and morphology, along with scenario- and risk- based analysis.

Predicted flooding of areas surrounding the Bristol Channel during a major surge event - viewed from the north-east.

Research continues to be focused primarily on the interactions between flowing fluids and solid and mobile sediment boundaries. A particularly notable recent success deriving from these experimental studies involved identification of the presence and three-dimensional form of vortical structures representing the central dynamic element in boundary layer turbulence. These exciting, first-time findings have widespread importance not only in civil engineering but also, for example, in aeronautical, mechanical and chemical engineering, and in medical and geophysical sciences including oceanography and meteorology.

In the civil engineering context, current fundamental investigations have direct relevance to:

modelling the physical and biological recovery of seabeds after marine aggregate dredging
long-term morphological modeling of sandbanks and other coastal features
forces on rock armour in the marine environment
the influence of waves on density-driven currents and particle driven plumes
fluid forces exerted on buildings and offshore structures and pipelines.
nonlinear diffraction of water waves and wave structure interaction
turbulence and pollutant dispersion in urban environments
renewable wave and tidal energy devices (the WAVEJET device)
movement of pollutants through fractured aquifers
wave energy dissipation, height attenuation and interaction with currents in the coastal zone
frictional resistance in rivers, estuaries and tidal flows

Nonlinear diffraction of a focused wave group by a vertical cylinder.
[Click to see movie (Quicktime) ]

Predicted residual sediment transport in the Bristol Channel - neap tide, T=9s

The Group has its own laboratory with a range of wave and current flumes, wind tunnel, 2-component fibre-optic LDV, ADV and PIV. It also shares the use of a 1.2m wide wave/current flume and a 2.5m wide wave flume with Mechanical Engineering. Access to a large wave basin and other facilities at Imperial College.

Research is often carried out in close collaboration with industry, currently H R Wallingford and ABPmer, with continental universities, and with research establishments through EU research-support initiatives. The group is an active member of the COZONE-ENCORA network of UK and European coastal engineering research centres. It also took a lead role in establishing the unique, large-scale coastal research basin (UKCRF) at HR Wallingford.

The group works closely with other UCL departments, and currently has joint projects with Mechanical Engineering, Mathematics and Earth Sciences.

The academic staff of the group are:

Lecturer
Eugeny Buldakov  PhD

Lecturer
Liora Malki-Epshtein  BSc, MSc, PhD (cantab)

Lecturer
Tristan Robinson  MMth, PhD

Professor of Fluid Mechanics and Coastal Engineering, Head of Group, Undergraduate Programme Director
Richard Simons  BSc (Hons), PhD, MICE, CEng

Postgraduate Research Students :

Nina Glover

Research Student
Styliani Karra

Luke Mitchell

Research Engineer
Stefania Schinaia  BSc, MSc

PhD Student
Amir Sharif-Ahmadian  BSc(Civil Eng.), MSc(Marine Structures)

Hela Vithana