Water and Sand

One of the Joint Research Activities (JRA), in which Hydralab focuses on enhancing the capabilities of experimental facilities, methods and instruments, is about morphology research in experimental facilities: WISE (Water-Interface-Sediment Experiments).

The aim of WISE is to observe with unprecedented accuracy the simultaneous and collocated profiles, of water and sediment flow and the associated bed-dynamics and particle features. The possibility to have a detailed picture of the flow field both in the horizontal and in the vertical direction is crucial for the correct understanding / quantification of fluid-sediment interactions, (e.g. generation and shedding of vortices). This JRA will, thus, take to a new level the capabilities of sedimentary bed hydraulic facilities by bringing the measurements of water velocity, sediment velocity and concentration, shear stresses (at the boundary), bed-forms and erosion/accretion rates to a new quantitative level. The aim, based on the advances achieved under HYDRALAB III will be to:

• take the significant step of moving from classical one-dimensional vertical profiles, 1DV, to quasi-3D resolution,

• extend opto-acoustic measurement capabilities currently limited to suspended sediments (developed under HYDRALAB III), to the highly concentrated nearbed layer usually identified as the bedload or sheet flow layer of primary importance for morphodynamics.