scholarly journals QUANTIFYING NUMERICAL MODEL ACCURACY AND VARIABILITY

2017 ◽  
pp. 12
Author(s):  
Luis Humberto Montoya ◽  
Patrick Lynett
Keyword(s):  
Flow Velocity ◽  
Risk Mitigation ◽  
Numerical Models ◽  
Maximum Flow ◽  
Field Measurements ◽  
Model Predictions ◽  
Tsunami Risk ◽  
Runup Height ◽  
Sendai Plain ◽  
Tohoku Tsunami

On March 11, 2011 the Tohoku tsunami event caused the death of thousands of people and generated billions of dollars in damages. Following this and previous tsunami events, there has been an effort to improve tsunami risk mitigation for coastal communities. Currently, numerical models are being used in a state-of-the-art methodology to estimate tsunami risk from near and far field sources. Model predictions are essential for the development of Tsunami Hazard Assessments (THA). By better understanding model bias and uncertainties and if possible minimizing them, a more accurate and reliable THA will result. In this study we compare runup height, inundation lines and flow velocity field measurements between GeoClaw and the Method Of Splitting Tsunami (MOST) predictions in the Sendai plain. Runup elevation and average inundation distance was in general over predicted by the models. However, both models agree relatively well with each other when predicting maximum sea surface elevation and maximum flow velocities. Model predictions show that the flow velocity increases as the tsunami wave front reaches the shoreline and makes its way inland for a couple of kilometers, contrary to what it is generally assumed. The tsunami models used in this study show much more variability when predicting flow velocity than predicting runup elevations and inundation lines. The results provided in this study will help understand the uncertainties in model predictions and locate possible sources of errors within a model.

scholarly journals Sensitivity and identifiability of rheological parameters in debris flow modeling

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerardo Zegers ◽  
Pablo A. Mendoza ◽  
Alex Garces ◽  
Santiago Montserrat
Keyword(s):  
Sensitivity Analysis ◽  
Debris Flow ◽  
Flow Velocity ◽  
Numerical Models ◽  
Maximum Flow ◽  
Rheological Parameters ◽  
Model Parameters ◽  
Relevant Variables ◽  
Distributed Evaluation ◽  
Maximum Flow Velocity

Abstract. Over the past decades, several numerical models have been developed to understand, simulate and predict debris flow events. Typically, these models simplify the complex interactions between water and solids using a single-phase approach and different rheological models to represent flow resistance. In this study, we perform a sensitivity analysis on the parameters of a debris flow numerical model (FLO-2D) for a suite of relevant variables (i.e., maximum flood area, maximum flow velocity, maximum flow velocity, deposit volume). Our aims are to (i) examine the degree of model overparameterization, and (ii) assess the effectiveness of observational constraints to improve parameter identifiability. We use the Distributed Evaluation of Local Sensitivity Analysis (DELSA) method, which is a hybrid local-global technique. Specifically, we analyze two creeks in northern Chile that were affected by debris flows on March 25, 2015. Our results show that SD and β1 – a parameter related to viscosity – provide the largest sensitivities. Further, our results demonstrate that equifinality is present in FLO-2D, and that final deposited volume and maximum flood area contain considerable information to identify model parameters.

Seismic Risk Mitigation of Historical Masonry Towers by Means of Prestressing Devices

2010 ◽  
Vol 133-134 ◽  
pp. 843-848 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adolfo Preciado Quiroz ◽  
Silvio T. Sperbeck ◽  
Harald Budelmann ◽  
Gianni Bartoli ◽  
Elham Bazrafshan
Keyword(s):  
Seismic Risk ◽  
Seismic Vulnerability ◽  
Risk Mitigation ◽  
Numerical Models ◽  
Failure Mechanisms ◽  
Masonry Towers ◽  
Seismic Risk Mitigation ◽  
Historical Masonry ◽  
Observed Damage ◽  
And Behavior

This work presents the investigation of the efficiency of different prestressing devices as a rehabilitation measure for the seismic risk mitigation of historical masonry towers. As a first phase, the seismic vulnerability of theoretical masonry towers was assessed by means of numerical models validated with information from the literature, observed damage and behavior of these structures due to passed earthquakes (crack pattern and failure mechanisms), and mainly taking into account the engineering experience. Afterwards, the validated models were rehabilitated with different prestressing devices; analyzing the results and concluding which device or the combination of them improved in a better way the seismic performance of the masonry towers. Finally, the methodology will be applied in two historical masonry towers located in seismic areas; the medieval tower “Torre Grossa” of San Gimignano, Italy, and one of the bell towers of the Cathedral of Colima, Mexico.

Hydrodynamic influences on sedimentology and geomorphology of nearshore parts of carbonate ramps: Holocene, NE Yucatán Shelf, Mexico

2021 ◽  
Vol 91 (10) ◽  
pp. 1040-1066
Author(s):  
Thomas C. Neal ◽  
Christian M. Appendini ◽  
Eugene C. Rankey
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Models ◽  
Remote Sensing Data ◽  
Field Measurements ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Tidal Range ◽  
Carbonate Platforms ◽  
Trade Winds ◽  
Tidal Forces ◽  
Carbonate Ramps ◽  
Geologic Record

ABSTRACT Although carbonate ramps are ubiquitous in the geologic record, the impacts of oceanographic processes on their facies patterns are less well constrained than with other carbonate geomorphic forms such as isolated carbonate platforms. To better understand the role of physical and chemical oceanographic forces on geomorphic and sedimentologic variability of ramps, this study examines in-situ field measurements, remote-sensing data, and hydrodynamic modeling of the nearshore inner ramp of the modern northeastern Yucatán Shelf, Mexico. The results reveal how sediment production and accumulation are influenced by the complex interactions of the physical, chemical, and biological processes on the ramp. Upwelled, cool, nutrient-rich waters are transported westward across the ramp and concentrated along the shoreline by cold fronts (Nortes), westerly regional currents, and longshore currents. This influx supports a mix of both heterozoan and photozoan fauna and flora in the nearshore realm. Geomorphically, the nearshore parts of this ramp system in the study area include lagoon, barrier island, and shoreface environments, influenced by the mixed-energy (wave and tidal) setting. Persistent trade winds, episodic tropical depressions, and winter storms generate waves that propagate onto the shoreface. Extensive shore-parallel sand bodies (beach ridges and subaqueous dune fields) of the high-energy, wave-dominated upper shoreface and foreshore are composed of fine to coarse skeletal sand, lack mud, and include highly abraded, broken and bored grains. The large shallow lagoon is mixed-energy: wave-dominated near the inlet, it transitions to tide-dominated in the more protected central and eastern regions. Lagoon sediment consists of Halimeda-rich muddy gravel and sand. Hydrodynamic forces are especially strong where bathymetry focuses water flow, as occurs along a promontory and at the lagoon inlet, and can form subaqueous dunes. Explicit comparison among numerical models of conceptual shorefaces in which variables are altered and isolated systematically demonstrates the influences of the winds, waves, tides, and currents on hydrodynamics across a broad spectrum of settings (e.g., increased tidal range, differing wind and wave conditions). Results quantify how sediment transport patterns are determined by wave height and direction relative to the shoreface, but tidal forces locally control geomorphic and sedimentologic character. Similarly, the physical oceanographic processes acting throughout the year (e.g., daily tides, episodic winter Nortes, and persistent easterly winds and waves) have more impact on geomorphology and sedimentology of comparable nearshore systems than intense, but infrequent, hurricanes. Overall, this study provides perspectives on how upwelling, nutrient levels, and hydrodynamics influence the varied sedimentologic and geomorphic character of the nearshore areas of this high-energy carbonate ramp system. These results also provide for more accurate and realistic conceptual models of the depositional variability for a spectrum of modern and ancient ramp systems.

scholarly journals The mechanical origin of snow avalanche dynamics and flow regime transitions

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xingyue Li ◽  
Betty Sovilla ◽  
Chenfanfu Jiang ◽  
Johan Gaume
Keyword(s):  
Flow Velocity ◽  
Alpha Angle ◽  
Maximum Flow ◽  
Flow Regimes ◽  
Snow Avalanche ◽  
Snow Avalanches ◽  
Deposition Zone ◽  
Avalanche Dynamics ◽  
Maximum Flow Velocity ◽  
Deposit Height

Abstract. Snow avalanches cause fatalities and economic damages. Key to their mitigation entails the understanding of snow avalanche dynamics. This study investigates the dynamic behaviors of snow avalanches, using the Material Point Method (MPM) and an elastoplastic constitutive law for porous cohesive materials. By virtue of the hybrid Eulerian-Lagrangian nature of MPM, we can handle processes involving large deformations, collisions and fractures. Meanwhile, the elastoplastic model enables us to capture the mixed-mode failure of snow, including tensile, shear and compressive failure. Using the proposed numerical approach, distinct behaviors of snow avalanches, from fluid-like to solid-like, are examined with varied snow mechanical properties. In particular, four flow regimes reported from real observations are identified, namely, cold dense, warm shear, warm plug and sliding slab regimes. Moreover, notable surges and roll-waves are observed peculiarly for flows in transition from cold dense to warm shear regimes. Each of the flow regimes shows unique flow characteristics in terms of the evolution of the avalanche front, the free surface shape, and the vertical velocity profile. We further explore the influence of slope geometry on the behaviors of snow avalanches, including the effect of slope angle and path length on the maximum flow velocity, the $\\alpha$ angle and the deposit height. Unified trends are obtained between the normalized maximum flow velocity and the scaled $\\alpha$ angle as well as the scaled deposit height, reflecting analogous rules with different geometry conditions of the slope. It is found the maximum flow velocity is mainly controlled by the friction between the bed and the flow, the geometry of the slope, and the snow properties. In addition to the flow behavior before reaching the deposition zone, which has long been regarded as the key factor governing the $\\alpha$ angle, we reveal the crucial effect of the stopping behavior in the deposition zone. Furthermore, our MPM model is benchmarked with simulations of real snow avalanches. The evolution of the avalanche front position and velocity from the MPM modeling shows reasonable agreement with the measurement data from literature. The MPM approach serves as a novel and promising tool to offer systematic and quantitative analysis for mitigation of gravitational hazards like snow avalanches.

Flow Fields Inside Stocked Fish Cages and the Near Environment

2014 ◽  
Vol 136 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lars C. Gansel ◽  
Siri Rackebrandt ◽  
Frode Oppedal ◽  
Thomas A. McClimans
Keyword(s):  
Atlantic Salmon ◽  
Water Flow ◽  
Laboratory Tests ◽  
Numerical Models ◽  
Field Measurements ◽  
Flow Patterns ◽  
Fish Swimming ◽  
Swimming Depth ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Fish Cages

This study explores the average flow field inside and around stocked Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) fish cages. Laboratory tests and field measurements were conducted to study flow patterns around and through fish cages and the effect of fish on the water flow. Currents were measured around an empty and a stocked fish cage in a fjord to verify the results obtained from laboratory tests without fish and to study the effects of fish swimming in the cage. Fluorescein, a nontoxic, fluorescent dye, was released inside a stocked fish cage for visualization of three-dimensional flow patterns inside the cage. Atlantic salmon tend to form a torus shaped school and swim in a circular path, following the net during the daytime. Current measurements around an empty and a stocked fish cage show a strong influence of fish swimming in this circular pattern: while most of the oncoming water mass passes through the empty cage, significantly more water is pushed around the stocked fish cage. Dye experiments show that surface water inside stocked fish cages converges toward the center, where it sinks and spreads out of the cage at the depth of maximum biomass. In order to achieve a circular motion, fish must accelerate toward the center of the cage. This inward-directed force must be balanced by an outward force that pushes the water out of the cage, resulting in a low pressure area in the center of the rotational motion of the fish. Thus, water is pulled from above and below the fish swimming depth. Laboratory tests with empty cages agree well with field measurements around empty fish cages, and give a good starting point for further laboratory tests including the effect of fish-induced currents inside the cage to document the details of the flow patterns inside and adjacent to stocked fish cages. The results of such experiments can be used as benchmarks for numerical models to simulate the water flow in and around net pens, and model the oxygen supply and the spreading of wastes in the near wake of stocked fish farms.

Fish cage and mooring system dynamics using physical and numerical models with field measurements

2003 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
David W. Fredriksson ◽  
M.Robinson Swift ◽  
James D. Irish ◽  
Igor Tsukrov ◽  
Barbaros Celikkol
Keyword(s):  
System Dynamics ◽  
Numerical Models ◽  
Field Measurements ◽  
Mooring System

scholarly journals Modeling Assessment of Tidal Energy Extraction in the Western Passage

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 411
Author(s):  
Zhaoqing Yang ◽  
Taiping Wang ◽  
Ziyu Xiao ◽  
Levi Kilcher ◽  
Kevin Haas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cross Sections ◽  
Numerical Models ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Energy Resource ◽  
Field Measurements ◽  
Tidal Energy ◽  
Resource Assessment ◽  
Ocean Model ◽  
Energy Extraction ◽  
Technical Specifications

Numerical models have been widely used for the resource characterization and assessment of tidal instream energy. The accurate assessment of tidal stream energy resources at a feasibility or project-design scale requires detailed hydrodynamic model simulations or high-quality field measurements. This study applied a three-dimensional finite-volume community ocean model (FVCOM) to simulate the tidal hydrodynamics in the Passamaquoddy–Cobscook Bay archipelago, with a focus on the Western Passage, to assist tidal energy resource assessment. IEC Technical specifications were considered in the model configurations and simulations. The model was calibrated and validated with field measurements. Energy fluxes and power densities along selected cross sections were calculated to evaluate the feasibility of the tidal energy development at several hotspots that feature strong currents. When taking both the high current speed and water depth into account, the model results showed that the Western Passage has great potential for the deployment of tidal energy farms. The maximum extractable power in the Western Passage was estimated using the Garrett and Cummins method. Different criteria and methods recommended by the IEC for resource characterization were evaluated and discussed using a sensitivity analysis of energy extraction for a hypothetical tidal turbine farm in the Western Passage.

scholarly journals Study of Current- and Wave-Induced Sediment Transport in the Nowshahr Port Entrance Channel by Using Numerical Modeling and Field Measurements

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ayyuob Mahmoodi ◽  
Mir Ahmad Lashteh Neshaei ◽  
Abbas Mansouri ◽  
Mahmood Shafai Bejestan
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Modeling ◽  
Caspian Sea ◽  
Recirculation Zone ◽  
Numerical Models ◽  
Field Measurements ◽  
Sediment Sources ◽  
The Caspian Sea ◽  
Access Channel ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
Wave Induced

The Nowshahr port in the southern coastlines of the Caspian Sea is among the oldest northern ports of Iran, first commissioned in the year 1939. In recent years, this port has been faced with severe sedimentation issues in and around its entrance that has had negative impacts on the operability of the port. The present study aims at identifying major reasons for severe sedimentation in the port entrance. First, field measurements were evaluated to gain an in-depth view of the hydrodynamics of the study area. Numerical models then were calibrated and validated against existing field measurements. Results of numerical modeling indicated that wind-induced current is dominant in the Caspian Sea. The numerical results also indicated that in the case of an eastward current direction, the interaction between current and the western breakwater arm would lead to the formation of a separation zone and a recirculation zone to the east of the port entrance region. This eddying circulation could transport suspend settled sediments from eastern shoreline towards the port entrance and its access channel. The results of this paper are mostly based on the study of current patterns around the port in the storm conditions incorporate with the identification of sediment sources.

Estimation of laser-Doppler flux biological zero using basilar artery flow velocity in the rabbit

1995 ◽  
Vol 268 (1) ◽  
pp. H213-H217 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. K. Richards ◽  
M. Czosnyka ◽  
P. J. Kirkpatrick ◽  
J. D. Pickard
Keyword(s):  
Flow Velocity ◽  
Laser Doppler Flowmetry ◽  
Basilar Artery ◽  
Maximum Flow ◽  
Laser Doppler ◽  
Absolute Difference ◽  
Doppler Flowmetry ◽  
Arterial Blood ◽  
Artery Flow ◽  
Doppler Flux

Laser-Doppler flowmetry has potential for continuous cerebral blood flow (CBF) measurement in man and experimental animals. However, laser-Doppler flux (LDFx) measured when perfusion is absent (the biological zero, 0biol) does not necessarily coincide with the instrument's electrical zero. To evaluate laser-Doppler flowmetry further we have compared LDFx in rabbits with continuous measurement of the maximum flow velocity (FVx) in the basilar artery using Doppler ultrasonography. Arterial blood pressure (ABP), FVx, and LDFx were measured continuously in anesthetized New Zealand White rabbits. ABP was altered by controlled hemorrhage with subsequent reinfusion. 0biol was estimated from regression analysis of FVx vs. LDFx and compared with 0biol obtained after death. There was a strong linear relationship between LDFx and FVx (r = 0.94). The absolute difference between estimated 0biol and true 0biol was 5.24% of control prehemorrhage LDFx. Variations in 0biol (range 4-409) suggest that percent changes in LDFx must be related to 0biol if results between individual animals are to be compared.

Comparative study of transcranial color duplex sonography and transcranial Doppler sonography in adults

1993 ◽  
Vol 78 (5) ◽  
pp. 776-784 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Schöoning ◽  
Reiner Buchholz ◽  
Jochen Walter
Keyword(s):  
Flow Velocity ◽  
Doppler Sonography ◽  
Transcranial Doppler Sonography ◽  
Maximum Flow ◽  
Duplex Sonography ◽  
Color Duplex Sonography ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Maximum Flow Velocity ◽  
Fine Print ◽  
Flow Velocities

✓ To determine whether the frequency shift recorded in basal cerebral arteries corresponds to “true” flow velocities, a prospective comparative study of transcranial color duplex sonography (TCCD) and transcranial Doppler sonography (TCD) was performed. A 2.0-MHz transducer of a computerized TCCD system and a TCD device were used. The middle cerebral artery (MCA) and anterior cerebral artery (ACA) were examined by TCCD in 49 healthy volunteers (mean age 35 ± 12 years). In 45 of the same volunteers a comparative TCD examination was possible. The studies were carried out blindly by different examiners at separate appointments. Peak systolic flow velocity, end-diastolic maximum flow velocity, time-averaged maximum flow velocity, and the pulsatility index were measured by both techniques. Additionally, for TCCD, time-averaged flow velocity was assessed, the resistance index and a spectral broadening index were calculated, and the energy output required for reliable measurement was analyzed. The TCCD signals were recorded in 98% of both MCA's and ACA's; with TCD, signals were recorded in 98% of MCA's and 87% of ACA's. Although in both vessels the angle-corrected peak systolic and time-averaged maximum velocities were approximately 10% to 15% higher in TCCD than in TCD measurements, correlation of flow velocities between both techniques was significant (p < 0.0001); differences between sides and age-dependency of flow velocities corresponded as well. In a reproducibility study, TCCD was repeated in 27 subjects by a third examiner with significant correlation (p < 0.0001) of both TCCD examinations. It is concluded that the advantage of TCCD is associated more with a qualitative aspect than a quantitative one. The additional visual dimension of TCCD can open new diagnostic possibilities in cerebrovascular disorders.

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