Journal of Hydraulic Research

ISSN: 0022-1686 (Print) 1814-2079 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/tjhr20

The future role of experimental methods in

European hydraulic research: towards a balanced
methodology

Ad Van Os , Richard Soulsby & Jens Kirkegaard

To cite this article: Ad Van Os , Richard Soulsby & Jens Kirkegaard (2004) The future role of
experimental methods in European hydraulic research: towards a balanced methodology,
Journal of Hydraulic Research, 42:4, 341-356, DOI: 10.1080/00221686.2004.9641203

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00221686.2004.9641203

Published online: 03 Dec 2010.

Submit your article to this journal

Article views: 97

View related articles

Citing articles: 1 View citing articles

Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at

http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=tjhr20

Download by: [The University Of Melbourne Libraries] Date: 05 June 2016, At: 14:48
 Journal of Hydraulic Research Vol. 42, No. 4 (2004), pp. 341–356
© 2004 International Association of Hydraulic Engineering and Research

The future role of experimental methods in European hydraulic research:

towards a balanced methodology
Le rôle futur des méthodes expérimentales dans la recherche hydraulique
européenne: vers une méthodologie équilibrée
AD VAN OS, WL | Delft Hydraulics, The Netherlands, Coordinator HYDRALAB

RICHARD SOULSBY, HR Wallingford, United Kingdom

Downloaded by [The University Of Melbourne Libraries] at 14:48 05 June 2016

JENS KIRKEGAARD, DHI Water & Environment, Denmark

on behalf of the HYDRALAB consortium1

ABSTRACT
Experiments in hydraulics are fundamental for creating the necessary tools for predictions of such important phenomena as flooding, coastal inundation,
impact on water quality in rivers, estuaries, coastal and marine areas, exploitation of ocean-based resources, ship design and ice engineering. Over the
years (second half of the last century) the balance shifted from an emphasis on experimental laboratory and field research to an emphasis on numerical
modelling. Field experiments and experimental laboratory research are nevertheless indispensable to the synergetic approach of hydraulic research.
Co-ordination and co-operation are needed on a European scale: real progress is only feasible through co-operation of similar facility providers
and research groups, with the perspective to establish a series of virtual European laboratories dealing with hydraulics.
The European co-operation sought for has got a promising start with the Infrastructure network HYDRALAB; realisation of a really effective
co-operation and co-ordination as mentioned above is the objective for the next five to ten years.

RÉSUMÉ
Les expériences en hydraulique sont fondamentales pour créer les outils nécessaires aux prévisions de phénomènes importants comme les crues, les
inondations côtières, l’impact sur la qualité de l’eau dans les fleuves, les estuaires, les secteurs côtiers et maritimes, l’exploitation des ressources des
océans, l’architecture navale et la glaciologie. Au cours des ans (deuxième moitié du dernier siècle) la prédominance des études expérimentales de
laboratoire et de terrain a cédé la place au développement de la modélisation numérique. Les expériences sur le terrain et la recherche expérimentale
de laboratoire sont néanmoins nécessaires à l’approche synergétique de la recherche hydraulique.
Coordination et coopération sont nécessaires à l’échelle européenne : le vrai progrès n’est possible qu’à travers une coopération des laboratoires
et des groupes de recherche semblables, avec la perspective d’établir un groupement de Laboratoires Européens virtuels en hydraulique.
La coopération européenne recherchée a eu un début prometteur avec le réseau d’infrastructures HYDRALAB ; la réalisation d’une coopération
et d’une coordination vraiment efficaces, comme mentionnée ci-dessus, est l’objectif des cinq à dix années à venir.

Keywords: Hydraulics, experimental research, research strategy, experimental research infrastructure.

Executive summary The HYDRALAB consortium, a network comprising repre-

Water is one of the fundamental essentials of life: without it
Earth would be a dead planet. Even when we consider just those
aspects of water classed as hydraulics in the sense of natural flows
in rivers, estuaries and the sea, the use of water for transport, and
the consequences of ice in the environment, this covers a wide
range of impacts on human life and the environment.
It is evident that an informed management and use of our water
resources and environment is essential to human well-being, and
a pre-requisite to the development of advanced technologies.
sentatives of 15 organizations that host large hydraulic facilities
in nine countries (see www.hydralab.org and Appendix A), has
initiated a fundamental discussion on the position of laboratory
experiments in the hydraulic research methodology, leading to
new goals to improve the use of experimental facilities. In this
strategy paper the consortium sets out the strategy for the future
of large-scale experimental facilities in the general field of
hydraulics, as perceived by the members.
Hydraulic research is developing more and more beyond
traditional civil engineering to satisfy increasing demands in

1
For HYDRALAB membership see Appendix A.
Revision received April 19, 2004 / Open for discussion until November 30, 2004.

341
 342 van Os et al.
Photo 1 Society need: research to combat severe coastal erosion
(example from the Netherlands).
Downloaded by [The University Of Melbourne Libraries] at 14:48 05 June 2016
environmental studies and natural hazard assessment (Photo 1).
It therefore expands toward oceanic and atmospheric flow studies,
sediment transport, bio-geochemical processes, and even toward
sociology and management sciences.
In the past, hydraulic studies were undertaken mostly with
physical models, reproducing flow phenomena at reduced scale
with dynamical similarity. Nowadays, the end results appear
more and more in the form of numerical models, which provide
detailed predictions, in a cheap, versatile, and attractive way.
One must keep in mind however that these models depend highly
on a simplified representation of complex turbulent processes and
boundary conditions. The models can be tested or complemented
by field data for particular applications, but definitive conclusions
are often difficult to draw because of uncontrolled natural pertur-
bations. Improving the general predictive power of the models
still relies on laboratory measurements under well-defined cir-
cumstances. Large-scale facilities are in particular needed to
approach the multi-scale interactions of natural flow phenomena
without distortion. They also serve an education purpose, pro-
viding physical intuition and keeping alive a rigorous scientific
method, which could become lost in the context of very complex
environmental problems.
The importance of experimental physical-model research has
to be judged in relation to the other research tools, viz. theoretical
analysis, numerical-model research and field tests. It is necessary
that new goals are set to balance the four classes of research tools
and the desired direction of development at a European level, as
a vision for the coming five to ten years. Indeed, one can confi-
dently assert that laboratory experiments will be as essential in
20 years time as they are today. On a Europe-wide scale they will
supply the new process information that feeds numerical models,
and will educate engineers and researchers in the processes they
need to understand.
The use of large hydraulic facilities is very costly. They can be
only partly funded by customers. As long-term infrastructures,
they need appropriate support from public funds. In the same way,
progress in numerical computations relies on expensive academic
computing centres and networks.
The paper addresses issues such as demands, present situation
and trends, lessons from the past and needs for the future and
Photo 2 Society need: research to prevent inland flooding (example
from UK).
finishes with perspectives for experimental research facilities and
conclusions.
Our ability to describe processes in nature rests on observa-
tion and experimentation. Thus, the quality and accuracy of any
prediction of natural processes and impact of human activity is
a result of the accomplishments of natural sciences. Building
advanced numerical models without a proper supporting exper-
imental activity is bound to rest on assumptions and subjective
choices. Experiments in hydraulics are fundamental for creating
the necessary tools for predictions of such important phenomena
as flooding (Photo 2), coastal inundation, impact on water qual-
ity in rivers, estuaries, coastal and marine areas, exploitation of
ocean-based resources, ship design and ice engineering.
This leads to nine more specific conclusions the last of which
reads: Given
(i) their ability to tackle complex processes where any other
tool will fail,
(ii) their repeatability and controlled conditions,
(iii) the considerable need for reliable experimental data for
calibration and verification of numerical models,
it is assured that physical models will keep their pivotal role for
many decades to come.
1 Introduction
2
The HYDRALAB consortium has initiated a fundamental discus-
sion on the position of laboratory experiments in the hydraulic
research methodology, leading to new goals to improve the use of
experimental facilities.
It goes without saying that water is one of the fundamental essen-
tials of life: without it Earth would be a dead planet. Here we
consider just those aspects of water classed as hydraulics in the
sense of natural flows in rivers, estuaries and the sea, the use of
2 The grey boxes at the top of each section summarize the key points
of that section. They are meant to facilitate a quick scan of the paper
without going through the details.
 The future role of experimental methods in European hydraulic research
water for transport, and the consequences of ice in the environ-
ment. Nonetheless, this covers a wide range of impacts on human
life and the environment:
• supply of domestic, industrial and agricultural water;
• disposal of waste water and sewage;
• flooding from inland and coastal sources;
• movement of sediments by water and its consequences (too
much sediment as in siltation and dredging problems or too
little as in soil, beach and cliff erosion);
• ship design, manoeuvring, navigation and ports;
• water quality issues inland and at sea;
• environmental issues, habitats and biodiversity of freshwater
and marine species; and many more.
It is evident that an informed management and use of our water
resources and environment is essential to human well-being, and
Downloaded by [The University Of Melbourne Libraries] at 14:48 05 June 2016
a pre-requisite to the development of advanced technologies.
This paper sets out the strategy for the future of large-scale
experimental facilities in the general field of hydraulics, as per-
ceived by the members of the European network HYDRALAB.
The network comprises representatives of 15 organizations that
host large hydraulic facilities in nine countries. The mission state-
ment of HYDRALAB is: “The aim of HYDRALAB is to clarify
and improve the integrated role of experimental research, includ-
ing field tests and numerical modelling in hydraulic engineering,
geophysical fluid dynamics, ship dynamics and ice engineering,
in terms of European society needs.” (Photo’s 1, 2, 3, 8, 12–14)
Hydraulic research is developing more and more beyond
traditional civil engineering to satisfy increasing demands in envi-
ronmental studies and natural hazard assessment. It therefore
expands toward oceanic and atmospheric flow studies, sediment
transport, bio-geochemical processes, and even toward sociology
and management sciences.
In the past, hydraulic studies were undertaken mostly with
physical models, reproducing flow phenomena at reduced scale
with dynamical similarity. Nowadays, the end results appear
more and more in the form of numerical models, which provide
detailed predictions, in a cheap, versatile, and attractive way.
One must keep in mind however that these models depend highly
on a simplified representation of complex turbulent processes and
boundary conditions. The models can be tested or complemented
by field data for particular applications, but definitive conclusions
are often difficult to draw because of uncontrolled natural pertur-
bations. Improving the general predictive power of the models
still relies on laboratory measurements under well-defined cir-
cumstances. Large-scale facilities are in particular needed to
approach the multi-scale interactions of natural flow phenomena
without distortion. They also serve an education purpose, pro-
viding physical intuition and keeping alive a rigorous scientific
method, which could become lost in the context of very complex
environmental problems.
The importance of experimental physical-model research has
to be judged in relation to the other research tools, viz. theoretical
analysis, numerical-model research and field tests. It is necessary
that new goals are set to balance the four classes of research tools
and the desired direction of development at a European level, as
343
a vision for the coming five to ten years. Indeed, one can confi-
dently assert that laboratory experiments will be as essential in
20 years time as they are today. On a Europe-wide scale they will
supply the new process information that feeds numerical models,
and will educate engineers and researchers in the processes they
need to understand.
The use of large hydraulic facilities is very costly. They can
be only partly funded by customers. As long term infrastructures,
they need appropriate support from public funds. In the same way,
progress in numerical computations relies on expensive academic
computing centres and networks.
In its first term (1997–2000), HYDRALAB organized two
workshops, two expert meetings and two Round Table Confer-
ences, at which the topic of the balance between the research
tools in hydraulics was discussed intensively. The results have
been reported to the research community,3,4,5,6 and led to an
earlier version of this strategy paper (see Acknowledgments).
The present paper addresses the following issues:
• demands from various users/stakeholders (practice, science
etc.);
• present situation and trends, strengths and weaknesses, oppor-
tunities and threats;
• lessons from the past;
• needs for the future;
• perspectives for experimental research facilities;
• operational aspects;
• harmonization of techniques and procedures for experiments,
data analysis and management in order to ensure comparability
and enhance the value and the use of results.
The conclusions are summarized at the end of the paper.
2 The demand side
2.1 Demand from practice
Trends in the demand from practice call for a knowledge jump.
This should lead to a deeper insight into the functioning of the sys-
tems we are dealing with, and thus enable us to make more reliable
predictions and take subtler and more efficacious measures.
The practical questions to be answered by hydraulic research
are increasing in scale and complexity. Engineering measures
are also no longer considered in isolation. Impacts need to
3 Proceedings of HYDRALAB-Workshop on Experimental Research
and Synergy Effects with Mathematical Models, Hannover, February
1999, ISBN-3-00-004942-8.
4 Proceedings of 2nd HYDRALAB Workshop on Problems and
Challenges in Experimental Research, Rungsted, November 1999,
ISBN-87-981850-4-2.
5 Proceedings of HYDRALAB-Expert Meeting on Problems and
Challenges in Experimental Research, Madrid, March 2000.
6 Project report “Hydrodynamics and Ice Engineering, Research Infras-
tructures”, by Ad van Os, published by the European Commission, edi-
tor: Campbell Warden, Office for Official Publications of the European
Communities, Luxembourg, December 2000, ISBN 92-894-0038-2.
 344 van Os et al.
be assessed on many aspects covering a variety of disciplines
(physics, biology, sociology, political sciences, management sci-
ences). The increasing pressure on space and the wish to manage
our natural resources in a sustainable and integrated manner lead
to a call for ever subtler and more effective measures, requiring
an ever deeper insight into the functioning of the systems we are
interfering with.
Moreover, people no longer take adverse effects of natural
hazards for granted. They expect government protection and
intervention. This requires different protection concepts, a much
better knowledge of the nature of extreme events, their probability
of occurrence, and the uncertainties involved in their predic-
tion. As examples, the costs and social consequences of flooding
can be illustrated: Germany (Photo 3), the Czech Republic and
Poland were hit by the Oder river flood (1997), Vistula river
flood (1997) and Elbe river flood (2002). The cost of flood
Downloaded by [The University Of Melbourne Libraries] at 14:48 05 June 2016
damages (Elbe river) in Saxony for the year 2002 was d6000
million. Areas below sea-level in Gdansk suffered flood dam-
age estimated at over US$25 million as a result of two days
of rain.
Investment costs for an integrated and sustainable coastal pro-
tection and Environmentally friendly development of estuaries
and rivers in Europe and abroad are relatively high. Small gaps
in knowledge can initiate undesirable long-term processes (e.g.
remobilization of contaminated sediment from depositional areas
after extreme events, or in estuaries after deepening of access
channels). Thus, a deeper understanding of physical processes
and their mathematical description is needed to avoid negative
side effects not visible today.
Practical problems also arise in connection with ice. Oil
and gas production in the Arctic represent great engineering
challenges because of the remote location, the cold climate,
and impediments from ice offshore and permafrost on land. A
major oil and gas development is underway in the European
Arctic. An upgrading of arctic technology and ice engineering
is required to secure an economic and environmentally sound
exploitation of the hydrocarbon sources in these areas. More
cost-effective and environmentally safer solutions are required
to make the exploitation economically attractive while providing
a sustainable development for the community.
Photo 3 Society need: research to prevent loss of lives and economic
damage due to floods (example from Germany).
Photo 4 Large ice model basin, HSVA, Hamburg.
In cold winters ice forms on many major European rivers, the
ice often reaching a thickness of more than 20 cm. If the freez-
ing period lasts for several weeks the ice cover usually becomes
stationary. Eventually, the river ice breaks up and a huge amount
of ice drifts down-stream. This tends to jam in river bends and at
bridges and barrages, impeding the water flow and leading to a
rapid increase of the up-stream water level. This carries the dan-
ger that river dikes break and that the lowlands are flooded. The
endangering of human lives, evacuation, biological and structural
damages as well as significant economical losses are the potential
consequences.
Sea ice of the Polar Regions and seas such as the Baltic and
Caspian is the subject of recent technological and fundamental
research. This seeks to understand its role in the global climate
system, and to solve the problems concerning its hindrance and
challenge to shipping and exploration. Field research on sea ice
is very cost intensive and logistically challenging because of its
remoteness and high demands on equipment and logistics. Many
of the scientific questions concerning sea ice, covering all disci-
plines, can be studied under simulated conditions in large-scale
ice facilities (Photo 4).
To give sustainable answers for such practical problems
requires a higher resolution of results in time and space, and
coupled multi-process modelling. This includes taking ecologi-
cal parameters into account, which establishes a need for further
development of measuring techniques in facilities and nature and
validation of simulation models by physical model tests.
2.2 Demand from science
High-quality research facilities, methodological diversity and bal-
ance and synergy between tools are prerequisites for scientific
progress, reliable and controllable predictions and the further
development of research and prediction methodologies.
In order to meet these demands, science needs high-quality
research facilities and a well-balanced methodology, both for
research and for practical prediction, combining the strong points
 The future role of experimental methods in European hydraulic research
of all tools available. Each of the present tools (monitoring
programmes, measuring campaigns in the field, laboratory
experiments, numerical modelling and analytical modelling) has
its shortcomings, but their effects can be limited and synergy
can be achieved by optimum and combined use of all the tools.
Methodological diversity helps to spread the risk of failure and
creates a basis for new offspring, in the form of combined or
novel methods.
Any further development of this integrated methodology
requires insight into the functioning of the relevant systems.
This can only be acquired through continued scientific research,
exploiting the existing research tools to their full extent.
The basic elements of the research methodology are:
2.3 Demand from education and training
Downloaded by [The University Of Melbourne Libraries] at 14:48 05 June 2016
Education and training should produce broad-viewed, scientifi-
cally well-trained professionals and researchers. We must avoid
one-sidedness and absolute belief in one tool or approach, and pro-
mote an interdisciplinary orientation. In the meantime, we have to
maintain a high scientific level.
Practice needs well-trained professionals, with a broad overview,
sufficient insight into the details of the processes, and a good
grasp of the integration of disciplines and methodologies. An
engineer needs a broad-based experience to function over the full
breadth of his or her profession. For instance, a river engineer who
has only worked with numerical models will not be well equipped
to solve all the problems along a real-life river, involving water,
sediment transport, bird sanctuaries, and possibly the political
wills of several countries.
Science also needs scientifically educated researchers, with
proficiency in specific areas, but also sufficient knowledge
across the entire methodology. A properly broadbased scien-
tific development draws its inspiration in the first place from
experiments.
Experience from EC-funded Access contracts showed that it
takes time to bring well-educated and trained researchers from all
over Europe to the “world class” top level of research as found in
only in a few institutions across Europe. This task requires greater
exchange of researchers and a double function of Access projects:
(a) top quality research for selected projects where facilities in
specific countries are missing, and (b) training and education of
young researchers during these projects alongside experienced
seniors.
3 The supply side
3.1 Present situation and trends
• Field monitoring should be a high-priority issue, not a back-
ground activity.
• Field campaigns are indispensable in a balanced research method-
ology, but they can never be the only tool.
• Laboratory experiments require a sound infrastructure (facilities,
expertise) but support for this has been dwindling in recent years.
Laboratory experiments must remain part of our methodology.
345
• Analytical modelling forms the basis of understanding, and
requires experimental data for its development and validation.
• Behaviour analysis needs to be integrated into our research
methodology.
• Uncertainty analysis is underexposed in some areas of hydraulic
engineering. It ought to be an essential part of our research
methodology and application practice.
• Numerical modelling has tended to displace the other tools, trend-
ing towards a methodological monoculture. Nonetheless, good
numerical modelling practice is neither easy nor cheap, and relies
on process equations derived from experiments.
• field work (observation, measuring campaigns, monitoring)
• laboratory experiments (descriptive, diagnostic, prognostic)
• analytical methods, including theoretical framework develop-
ment, system behaviour analysis, and uncertainty analysis
• numerical modelling (descriptive, diagnostic, prognostic)
In Europe, all elements of this methodology are being exploited
to some extent. Yet there is an imbalance in their development,
as can be seen from Table 1.
Although the trends are viewed in isolation in the table, the
methods in fact support each other rather than being in compe-
tition. We can apply a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses,
Opportunities, Threats) to the various methods.
3.2 Strengths and weaknesses
Each tool category has its own strengths and weaknesses. No one
tool is good enough to supplant the others. By clever combination
of tools, we can compensate for the weaknesses and exploit the
strengths.
Each of the above methodological elements has its own spe-
cific strengths and weaknesses, the most prominent of which
are mentioned in Table 2 (next page).
Clearly, no one tool is good enough to make all others redun-
dant. The combination of tools produces added value. Numerical
methods are limited for various problem classes (e.g. long-term
sediment transport, surf zone experiments, moving geometries
such as propellers etc.) and thus require further development
and verification with physical model tests with high resolution
in space and time. One example: laboratory experiments give
insight into physical processes (e.g. sediment transport), analyt-
ical models convert insight into algorithms, numerical models
implement algorithms into a model of a real-life situation (e.g.
a river stretch), and field data (from that particular river stretch)
are used to validate this model.
Another example: a field campaign yields data (e.g. current
velocities) at a small number of points, under the conditions
that occurred during the campaign; a scale model or a numerical
model is used to put these results into perspective (current field),
and to extrapolate them to other conditions (e.g. storms).
 346 van Os et al.

Table 1 Trends in the development of the various types of research tools

Tool category Present development trends

Field monitoring (simple robust
instruments, years/decades)
Field campaigns (intensive, short-term,
research instruments)
Laboratory experiments (elucidation of
processes)
Physical scale models (black-box
approach to outputs)
Analytical modelling
System behaviour analysis
Downloaded by [The University Of Melbourne Libraries] at 14:48 05 June 2016
Applied to an insufficient extent, especially for long-term behaviour (e.g. morphology) and after the
execution of engineering works; consistency of programmes difficult to maintain through time; potentials
of remote sensing insufficiently exploited
Varying appreciation, concentration in specialised institutes, proponents tend to believe that this approach
can be used on its own to solve practical problems; need improved instruments
Poorly controlled expansion (e.g. wave basins); call for sharing of large facilities; need modernization of
infrastructure/instruments
Mainly used for commercial purposes; exploitability of large-scale facilities threatened; need lab
experiments for validation/scaling/interpretation
Fewer experts and less used as numerical models have expanded, yet essential for numerical model
development
Specialism of a few institutes, poor recognition elsewhere

Uncertainty analysis Poorly developed, low level of acceptance in scientific world, mixed attitude among end users; tends to
become a “hot issue”
Numerical modelling Strong development over a wide front, but methodologically vulnerable (lack of validation, skill
assessment, insufficient control of uncertainty)

Table 2 Strengths and weaknesses per tool category

Tool category Strengths Weaknesses

Field monitoring Real-life; all scale levels present; net effect of all Vulnerability; consistency; perceived relevance; lack of
conditions; availability of new technology financial support
Field campaigns Real-life; full-size; all-in Representativeness; repeatability; accuracy; costs
Laboratory experiments Controlled conditions; repeatable; observable Possible scale effects; model effects; representativeness
Physical scale models Controlled conditions; repeatable; observable Scale effects; model effects; representativeness; perceived
cost/benefit ratio
Analytical modelling Uses fundamental physical equations; gives direct insight Idealized models; difficult to add new levels of complexity;
into behaviour if too complex, lose direct insight
Behaviour analysis Transparent; covers free behaviour Idealized models; can be laborious
Uncertainty analysis Confidence bands; range of possible evolutions Acceptance by end-user; perceived cost/benefit ratio
Numerical modelling Flexible; versatile; unit costs decreasing Approximations; missing processes; inherent inaccuracy;
explicit parameter values; often: deterministic approach

3.3 Opportunities and threats
Opportunities
• A choice of methods is needed in order to tackle certain scientific
problems.
• The combined use of tools reduces the risk of methodological
inbreeding.
• Combination of tools may lead to new understanding and new
methods.
• Methodological diversity is a basis for innovation.
• Encourage more young researchers to take up physical modelling
to ensure continuity of expertise.
Threats
• Predominance of a certain tool may lead to atrophy of the others;
this undesirable tendency can be a result purely of the accounting
principles being different for each of the tool categories.
• A methodological mono-culture lacks the commonality that is
needed to reduce the risk of failure and to compensate for the
shortcomings of each tool; it involves the risk of methodological
inbreeding.
• Once the infrastructure (facilities and expertise) for a certain tool
is lost, it is not easily restored.
Developing an imbalance in the research infrastructure may lead
to dangerous feedback effects. If a certain type of tool becomes
difficult to access (e.g. experimental facilities that become too
expensive), researchers will try to find their way around it. This
means that this type of tool will tend to get out of sight, whence
its application becomes rare, its maintenance and sustaining the
required expertise become more expensive, the access even more
difficult, etc. This negative spiral could ultimately lead to the
disappearance of such tools.
 The future role of experimental methods in European hydraulic research 347

The principle of “market forces” only works if the financial

ground-rules of the competing tools are on a level playing field. If
laboratory facilities have to be exploited on a commercial basis,
whereas field research facilities are made available at marginal
costs, for instance, there is unequal competition. If we accept a
fully deterministic approach (one run, one answer) without uncer-
tainty analysis, numerical modelling would get unrealistically
cheap and might out-compete the other tools. In either case, the
methodology is brought artificially out of balance. Indeed, none
of the tools is good enough to rely on exclusively. Examples of
the consequences are given below.
One example is the discovery of shear waves in the nearshore Figure 1 The HYDRALAB approach.
current, during a field campaign in the late eighties near the Field
Research Facility at Duck, North Carolina. Until that moment, we
Using numerical models to reduce scale and model effects
were totally confident in our ability to describe longshore currents
in laboratory experiments is an insufficiently explored option.
with models assuming longshore uniformity. In the meantime, the
Downloaded by [The University Of Melbourne Libraries] at 14:48 05 June 2016

Such effects in physical scale models could be investigated (and

phenomenon has been explained with standard behaviour anal-
yses (linear and non-linear stability analyses), and it has been
studied in laboratory experiments and with numerical models.
One could just as well have discovered this phenomenon with any
of these other means, e.g. with a two-dimensional (2D) numerical
eddy-resolving nearshore current model, but it had not occurred
to anyone to run such a model long enough and with the appro-
priate boundary conditions to let these shear waves develop. It is
the combination of tools that has led to the present understanding
of this phenomenon.
Another example concerns the formation of linear sand-
banks (tidal ridges) on the seabed. A rather straightforward
linear stability analysis suffices to explain their formation, but
attempts to model this numerically have not been very success-
ful so far. The problem there lies not in the essential physical
mechanisms, but rather in the interference with the model
boundaries.
Equally, use of physical models in isolation can be mislead-
ing. For example, model tests for stability of Dolos armour units
ignored their internal strength, which at prototype scale was
inadequate.
There are phenomena that can only be studied with a combi-
nation of tools. The transport of graded sediment, with vertical
selection processes in the top layers of the bed (e.g. the forma-
tion and break-up of armour layers), is such a phenomenon. At
the moment, we are not even able to model this numerically, and
it is far too complicated to investigate exclusively in the field,
especially because the most interesting phenomena occur under
rough conditions (storms, floods). Carefully designed laboratory
experiments are needed to see what actually happens in the top
layers of the bottom.
Recent literature shows that combinations of tools offer good
perspectives of scientific progress. In the EU-funded COAST-3D
project, for instance, field data from a necessarily sparse set of
measuring points were put into perspective via numerical mod-
els revealing the overall circulation pattern. One could also think
of complementary experiments, in parallel to the field measure-
ments, under controlled conditions in a wave and current basin
like the Coastal Research Facility at HR Wallingford (UK) or the
Vinjé basin in the Netherlands (Fig. 1).
possible compensated) with the help of a numerical model.
Another area that needs further exploration is that of data-
driven modelling. Between the extremes of pure “black-box” sta-
tistical modelling (e.g. neural networks) and modelling entirely
based on first physical principles, there is a range of techniques
developing that combine the strengths of data and physical knowl-
edge (Bayesian statistics, behaviour-oriented modelling, data
assimilation, etc.). This provides the possibility of much more
effective combinations of field and laboratory data.
4 Lessons from the past
In the past, laboratory research facilities were in some cases sup-
ported by commercial physical modelling. This is less true today,
and in any case does not cover the educational use of physical
models.
Looking at the developments from a historic perspective we see,
with the rapid increase in computer power, and of course the
increased insight gained through experimental research in the
preceding period, the strong development of large-scale numeri-
cal model systems replacing the “black-box” experimental scale
models in the laboratory. This is especially the case where large
areas are studied and the main issue is to understand the fluid
flow. But also in wave research, morphology, scouring, den-
sity currents (e.g. cooling water research) numerical modelling
is frequently the principal research tool used.
At the same time, one notices the rise of special-purpose
facilities like tidal salinity flumes, tilting flumes or ducts for
sediment research, oscillating water tunnels (Photo 5), Corio-
lis turn-tables (Photo 6), large wave flumes (Photo 7, next page).
These facilities have in common that they can be used not only for
“traditional scale-model research”, but also for process research,
which means that gaining insight into the physical processes
involved is the main research focus. The results of this research
are used to build and improve numerical models of the relevant
processes.
These rare facilities are the most difficult to exploit, since
there is usually not a continuous flow of projects that keeps
 348 van Os et al.
Photo 5 Oscillating water tunnel, Delft.
Downloaded by [The University Of Melbourne Libraries] at 14:48 05 June 2016
Photo 6 Coriolis turntable, Grenoble.
them fully occupied. The present discussion concerns these facil-
ities, rather than the ones that are commonly used in commercial
applications. The latter are still economically feasible and eco-
nomic mechanisms suffice to keep this infrastructure healthy and
up-to-date.
Researchers are under increasing pressure to produce, and
production is measured by the number of publications. Hence it
is not surprising that in recent years researchers have tended to
(a) (b)
Photo 7 Large wave flumes. (a) FZK, Hannover; (b) WL | Delft Hydraulics, De Voorst; (c) UPC/LIM, Barcelona.
avoid utilising high-threshold tools, such as large-scale labora-
tory experiments, where the production of papers per unit time
is much less than with a numerical model (although the citation
index is usually higher!). Rather than closing down experimental
facilities for this reason, the obvious solution is to remove the
high threshold for access to them, which is exactly what the EC
Access programmes are aimed at.
5 Needs for the future
5.1 Choosing the optimum methodology
In order to seize the opportunities and eliminate the threats, we
need methodological diversity (various categories of tools), as well
as an overall balance (comparably strong categories). This promotes
innovation and healthy competition.
As stated before, a combined methodology offers the best per-
spectives of meeting the practical and scientific demands. Not
only does every methodological element (tool) have its own spe-
cific shortcomings, using a single tool also involves too much
risk, of overlooking essential aspects, of misconceptions, etc. The
latter goes for each of the tools. Field measurements are expen-
sive to obtain, they have historically been point values (although
ADCP and remote sensing are changing that), boundary condi-
tions cannot be chosen, observation is difficult and results may be
biased toward benign wave climates. Numerical models require
validation (e.g. based on field measurements). Physical models
have scale, model and laboratory effects. Using different tools
provides the opportunity of synergy and mutual validation and
thus reduces the risk.
Integration of numerical modelling systems, field measure-
ments, experimental laboratory research in special-purpose
facilities and theoretical analyses, combined via “calculation
or integration modules”, will lead to what is variously called
“hybrid modelling” or “composite modelling”. Field data, com-
plemented with laboratory experiments, provide boundary con-
ditions, calibration and verification material, far field is modelled
numerically, near field and/or processes are modelled physically,
and results are tied together computationally. Composite models
(c)
 The future role of experimental methods in European hydraulic research 349

are at an early stage of maturity, but certain topics have been iden- 5.2 Future experimental facilities
tified as well suited to collaborative development of a composite
The following types of innovative experimental facility that do
approach:
not currently exist are envisaged as having an important role to
play in future research and problem-solving:
• Validation of numerical flow/wave models with data from lab-
oratory physical models as an adjunct to field data, providing • A combined physical, biological and chemical test facility to
greater control and density of points. study the influence of biological activity and chemical pro-
• Transformation of waves from deep water to shallow water. cesses on physical processes such as sediment transport and
• Long-term morphological development. morphological development.
• Biology–sediment interaction. • A large wave basin (3D, bi-directional waves, bi-directional
• Initializing and guiding numerical environmental models transient current, with wind) for long-term experiments
— by field measurements or aerial mapping; (months) to evaluate sediment transport, deposition and resus-
— by using data assimilation techniques like in weather pension of cohesive sediments (such as fluid mud) (Photo 7).
forecasting and operational oceanography. • A facility to study swash zone phenomena and flow in porous
• Forces and vibrations of pipelines and risers. media at large (or full) scale.
• Stability of breakwaters and coastal structures.
Downloaded by [The University Of Melbourne Libraries] at 14:48 05 June 2016

These facilities would be unique in the world, giving Europe

— scour around structures;
a leading edge in the understanding they will deliver, and in the
— morphological performance of detached breakwaters and
ability to solve new classes of practical technical problems.
groynes.
• Harbour modelling
— Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) — calculations for
6 Infrastructure development
wave agitation and harbour seiching;
— reflection properties of the boundaries from experiments;
— density driven currents in complex geometries (e.g. current Research infrastructure (hardware, software, know-how, expertise)
takes a long time to develop and degrades rapidly if not maintained.
deflection wall);
Hence, infrastructure is easy to lose, but difficult to restore.
— non-linear mooring problems;
— influence of ship motion on sediment transport;
— effect of fluid mud layers on ship motion. Each research tool requires its own infrastructure. In general, this
• Ship motion, including CFD cannot be built up overnight and deteriorates if it is not utilized.
— development of CFD codes; Therefore, continuity in the application and the development of
— CFD calculations (e.g. RANSE) for ships, propulsors and the methodology is necessary. One cannot abandon one method
special devices; and expect to pick it up again once it is needed. Even a short
— CFD application solving technical/scientific problems. abandonment of physical modelling, for example, would need
very large investments in equipment, personnel and training in a
As an example, take the case of composite harbour modelling. few years just to return to the level of expertise achieved prior to
Modelling the conditions in a harbour involves a sequence of abandonment. It is unlikely that funding would be available for
processes — from wave conditions in deep water to mooring a resurrection like that at this time.
forces of ships in the harbour. The tools applied include numerical This situation can become acute if the institutional structure
and physical modelling. The objective of composite modelling is in a country more or less follows methodological lines. Such a
to determine the optimum transition from one model to the next
in order to utilise the individual strengths of the models without
losing information.
Having a variety of research tools in place also promotes
mutual competition. Findings that are ‘certainties’ within one
methodology will be challenged. This may seem counterproduc-
tive in the short run, but in the long run it leads to a better-
founded body of knowledge that avoids the risk of developing
methodology-related absolute beliefs.
We see a future for physical modelling for at least 20 years,
especially for modelling of complex processes, which we still do
not understand in depth. As understanding of these processes is
gained through detailed laboratory measurements, the numerical
models will be enhanced — but the need for physical measure-
ments will then move on to the next level. In addition, physical
models can be a better tool to aid public understanding than Photo 8 Society need: research to prevent damage of coastal defence
numerical models. structures (example from Spain).
 350 van Os et al.
system may well get out of balance, leading to predominance
of one part of the methodology and abandonment of the others.
The latter may not only entail a loss of physical infrastructure,
expertise and know-how, but it may also put the continuity of
valuable institutes at risk. Once such research infrastructure has
disappeared, it will take a very long time to restore it.
This, however, can be turned into an advantage if cooper-
ation between the various institutes is achieved, making use
of the specific expertise and infrastructure of each institute.
This is exactly what has been done in some countries, e.g.
considering just coastal research, the networks NCK in the
Netherlands, COZONE in UK, RFRC in France, and GECON
in Germany.
7 Perspectives for experimental research
Downloaded by [The University Of Melbourne Libraries] at 14:48 05 June 2016
In order to keep a sufficient variety of tools to maintain a critical sci-
entific attitude towards “established” views and supposed truisms,
experimental research must be improved and innovated. The many
strong points of laboratory experiments must be the basis of such a
development. There is ample innovative spirit among researchers.
Loss of methodological diversity would hamper scientific
progress and impair the professional quality of future hydraulic
engineers. The variety of tools available needs to be maintained
and continuously sharpened. The primary objective of this contin-
uing challenge is to improve the tools. Such a continuous search
for new and broad perspectives is instrumental to the further
development of our research methodology.
7.1 Advantages of experimental research
Laboratory experiments must remain part and parcel of the
research methodology because of their many strong points, such
as (inter alia):
• Observability: experiments to investigate mechanisms that are
difficult to observe in nature (e.g. vertical sediment segregation
and bed armouring in case of graded sediment; functioning
of dynamic armour layers during high flows, destabilizing
mechanisms of coarse-grained material in granular filter layers,
rubble mound structures, etc.).
• Measurability: experiments to isolate phenomena that are dif-
ficult to measure in nature (e.g. wave-tunnel experiments on
near-bed phenomena under storm conditions near the shore7 ).
• Repeatability: repeated experiments, to investigate the range of
inherent uncertainty of phenomena (e.g. sediment transport).
• Input control: experiments with various realistic input time
series, to assess the predictive capability of numerical models.
• Process control: experiments for simple situations, in order to
validate the results of theoretical behaviour analyses.
7 Wave-tunnels have been particularly successful in studying nearshore
sediment transport phenomena under storm conditions.
• Overview: experiments concerning spatial pattern forma-
tion (wave fields, morphology, etc.) and requiring synoptic
measurements.8
• Cost: filling in of field measurements, which are necessarily
disperse.
• Robustness: we can model processes that cannot be modelled
numerically, because (unlike numerical models) physical mod-
els are basically similar to prototype (especially in facilities
that model processes at full scale).
7.2 Classes of experimental research needed
• Many environmental processes are too poorly understood to be
incorporated into reliable numerical models. Others (e.g. scour)
are just becoming capable of prediction by numerical modelling,
but with prohibitive computing times and lack of confidence.
• Despite advances in computational fluid mechanics, physical
modelling is still the mainstay of ship design.
• The presence of ice has a decisive impact on the economies of far-
northern countries. The interaction of ice with ships and structures
is best handled by physical modelling.
Classes of hydraulic research where experimental facilities could
and should play a role in the coming decades are:
(a) Problems which cannot yet be adequately modelled numeri-
cally (e.g. turbulence, scour).
(b) Problems which cannot be sufficiently well measured in the
field, due to difficulties of instrumentation, controllability,
exclusion of extraneous processes, or to obtain sufficient
spatial density (Photo 9).
(c) Mobile-bed experiments, to establish a quantitative and
scale-robust methodology.
(d) Improving design methods/formulae to raise safety standards
and improve design and construction efficiency.
(e) Comparisons between performance in prototype with “as
designed” and “as modelled”.
(f) Upscaled industrial flow phenomena, to access small scale
turbulent processes
Photo 9 Gravity current simulating the outflow of dense water on the
continental slope Coriolis turntable, Grenoble.
8Although there is much development work to be done, it must be easier
to acquire synoptic data in the laboratory than in the field.
 The future role of experimental methods in European hydraulic research 351

(a)
• Management and operation of these facilities should be brought
under a non-commercial organization, outside the competitive
arena of the hydraulic research institutes.
• In addition to the funds for providing the infrastructure,
community-funded programmes are needed to give researchers
access to the facilities.
• Setting up an international cooperation for these purposes will
take time, finances and convincing arguments.

Large-scale facilities involve large investments and are more or

less unique, even at the international level. Such large facilities
are scientifically justifiable, as they are simply needed in the chain
(b) of methodologies to advance science. Some may also be used for
commercial purposes, but this is not enough to carry the whole
financial burden of sustaining the necessary infrastructure.
We must therefore conclude that such facilities are not easily
Downloaded by [The University Of Melbourne Libraries] at 14:48 05 June 2016

justified on a short-term commercial basis, if the long-term ben-

efits are not recognized. The costs of investment, maintenance
and operation are so high that hardly anybody can afford to use
such a facility without substantial community funding (e.g. via
the EU Access to Major Research Infrastructure Programme).
This situation has nothing to do with the scientific relevance or
irrelevance of the experiments: if the experiments are not afford-
able, researchers simply try to find another way out, or just accept
lower quality, which would not assist Europe to maintain its status
Photo 10 (a) Ship manoeuvring test, CEHIPAR, Madrid. (b) Large ice as a world player in this field.
model basin, HSVA, Hamburg.
Sharing large facilities within the EU seems an obvious solu-
tion. If, for example, one organization has a large coastal research
(g) Ship propulsion, resistance, sea-keeping and manoeuvring facility (Photo 11), why should similar institutes elsewhere in
(Photo 10a). Europe also have one, instead of using the existing facility if
(h) Ice mechanics, ships and structures in ice, and Arctic access time is available? The down-side of such a decision to
environment protection (Photo 10b).
Many topics are well suited to physical modelling in labora- (a)
tory facilities, since the key physical processes they embody are
not yet understood sufficiently to be incorporated into numer-
ical models. Some of these are listed in Appendix B, divided
into environmental-hydraulics topics, ship-design topics, and ice-
related topics (Photo 10). The lists are not exhaustive. They
are meant to illustrate that there are enough ideas and ini-
tiatives among researchers, provided that the availability and
access hurdles can be overcome. This is also reflected by the
success (in terms of proposals received) of the Hydraulics sec-
tion of the EU-funded Access to Major Research Infrastructure
Programme.
(b)

8 Operational aspects of facilities

Large-scale facilities should be distinguished from small- and

medium-scale ones.

8.1 Large-scale facilities for research

• Capital investment, maintenance costs and researchers’ access

to large-scale facilities should be funded internationally, either
through the EU or through international collaboration. Photo 11 (a) The UK Coastal Research Facility Wallingford, UK and
(b) the offshore wave basin, DHI, Hørsholm.
 352 van Os et al.
other organizations is that the facility-provider, through the expe-
rience gained by operating the facility for everyone else, would be
able to out-compete the other institutes before long. Thus, there
is a definite advantage for a laboratory to have such a facility
in-house.
In order to avoid this effect, management and operation of
these large facilities should be brought under a non-commercial
organization (a joint hydraulic research laboratory). The funding
must be truly international also, because otherwise the financial
burden would be unevenly distributed. Research money will flow
from other countries to the institute that runs the facility, in order
to cover the permanent costs and the downtime of the facility.
Other large facilities could be established at other institutes, in
other European countries, in order to spread benefits and risks.
The present European funding regime, however, is based on
the “subsidiarity principle”, which implies that the costs for
Downloaded by [The University Of Melbourne Libraries] at 14:48 05 June 2016
investment, depreciation, maintenance etc. (i.e. the permanent
costs) of experimental facilities like the ones we are dealing with
should be a national affair of the country of the facility provider.
This might be an obstacle to EU-funding of large-scale experi-
mental infrastructure.9 A possible way around this would be to
set up an international collaboration especially for this purpose.
Even if all research of a certain type can be concentrated in one
facility, it will still be unaffordable to most researchers. There-
fore, such large facilities should be attended with one or more
community funding programmes for basic research. The suc-
cessful Access programmes of the EC are good examples. These
programmes, however, are not accessible to research groups
from the country of the facility provider: they are supposed
to be supported by national programmes. Such national access
programmes exist in some, but not all EU countries. France,
Germany and UK (in the past), for instance, have had success-
ful programmes, but in other countries there is no such facility.
We also frequently see that funding is more easily obtained for
building new facilities than for running existing ones.
Setting up an international cooperation scheme like this
will not be easy. It will take time (5–10 years), perseverance,
convincing arguments and solid financial support. The qualitative
arguments given in this strategy paper need to be substantiated,
and the innovation potential of experimental research needs to be
shown explicitly. The European hydraulic community would be
able to propose a convincing development scheme for a joint lab-
oratory as mentioned above. They would ask the EC to consider
initial support of such an international initiative.
8.2 Medium-scale facilities for research
Easily accessible medium-scale experimental facilities should
remain available in more than one country, which more or less
automatically implies national funding and access arrangements.
9 Note that this is not contradicted by the willingness of the EU to fund
Access to hydraulic facilities, since these programmes only provide
access to existing infrastructure.
The above arrangement may be acceptable for large-scale exper-
iments, which are carried out rarely and only after long prepara-
tion. Access-hurdles, such as long waiting times, application for
funding, are acceptable in that case (cf. ship-time for seagoing
research). This is not the case for medium-scale facilities, such
as flumes and basins for exploratory experiments, rapid assess-
ment tools, etc. They must provide relatively easy access, without
high costs and long waiting times. Moreover, they have a distinct
function in the academic education of researchers and engineers
in environmental hydraulics.
It is also clear that preliminary research in medium-scale facil-
ities has to be done before a study is in a position to make full and
effective use of a large facility. Researchers should be encouraged
to adopt such an approach.
Consequently, medium-scale facilities must continue to be
available in more than one country, with national funding arrange-
ments. Such facilities help to develop and maintain a high level
of expertise and know-how within the country. This keeps the
various institutes in shape for a meaningful European coordina-
tion and cooperation. Such a policy would be completely in line
with the subsidiarity principles of the EU.
9 Conclusions
• Methodological diversity and balance are necessities for science,
education and professional practice in hydraulics.
• The hydraulic research methodology needs action to keep it in
balance.
• Synergy and innovation potentials are insufficiently exploited.
• Laboratory experiments are part and parcel of the hydraulic
research methodology.
• The infrastructure for laboratory experiments is a diminishing
resource.
• Large-scale and unique facilities should be brought out of the
commercial arena and funded, managed, operated and shared at
a European level.
• Easy access for researchers is essential to the viability of every
facility.
• This requires adequate access programmes (supporting expertise,
operation costs, T&S costs of researchers) and a fair time-sharing
system.
Our ability to describe processes in nature rests on observation
and experimentation. Thus, the quality and accuracy of any pre-
diction of natural processes and impact of human activity is
a result of the accomplishments of natural sciences. Building
advanced numerical models without a proper supporting exper-
imental activity is bound to rest on assumptions and subjective
choices. Experiments in hydraulics are fundamental for creating
the necessary tools for predictions of such important phenomena
as flooding (Photo 12), coastal erosion (Photo 13) and rehabili-
tation (Photo 14, next page), impact on water quality in rivers,
estuaries, coastal and marine areas, exploitation of ocean-based
resources, ship design and ice engineering.
1. There is a compelling need for balance in the hydraulic
research methodology. Even more, there is a need for synergy
 The future role of experimental methods in European hydraulic research
Photo 12 Flooded land in river Rhine during recent high water (example
from the Netherlands).
Downloaded by [The University Of Melbourne Libraries] at 14:48 05 June 2016
Photo 13 Coastal damage, Galley Hill, UK.
Photo 14 Coastal rehabilitation by beach nourishment, the Netherlands.
between these tools. The topics of hydraulic research have
become so complicated, that only an integrated approach
using all means of research available can give us hope for
progress. On top of that we cannot stick to only deterministic
approaches: uncertainty analysis should be incorporated in
our research approach too.
353
2. Correspondingly there is a need for sophisticated measuring
techniques giving synoptic measuring results in two or three
dimensions (e.g. Correlation Imaging Velocimetry (CIV),
and 3D Particle Tracking Velocimetry (PTV)). These tech-
niques have to be developed and/or improved using laboratory
facilities.
3. Over the years (second half of the last century), the balance
shifted from an emphasis on experimental scale modelling to
an emphasis on numerical modelling; in the meantime, the
amount of field experiments also decreased considerably, due
to the extensive costs involved. Field experiments and exper-
imental laboratory research are nevertheless indispensable to
the synergetic approach of hydraulic research that is needed
for the coming decades.
4. In other fields (e.g. particle physics, biochemistry) the contin-
uing need for controlled measurements is taken for granted —
the case for the hydraulics field is no less fundamental.
5. Special-purpose facilities like large wave flumes and basins,
tidal salinity flumes, tilting flumes or ducts for sediment
research, oscillating water tunnels, Coriolis turntables are
bound to play a key role in a balanced approach to hydraulic
research.
6. The extent of the research challenges for the coming decades
necessitates cooperation on national and international levels:
one single research institute cannot perform such activities on
its own. National networks on themes such as coasts, rivers,
flooding, etc. are being formed in some countries, and are a
first step to Europe-wide networks of researchers.
7. On a European scale, coordination and cooperation are
needed: real progress is only feasible through cooperation of
similar facility providers and research groups, with the per-
spective to establish a series of virtual European laboratories
dealing with hydraulics. This calls for an “equal share” of
each of the partners: fruitful cooperation can only exist, if
each partner can offer real value to the others.
8. The European cooperation sought for has got a promising
start with the HYDRALAB network; realisation of a really
effective cooperation and coordination as mentioned above is
the objective for the next 5–10 years.
9. Given
(i) their ability to tackle complex processes where any other
tool will fail,
(ii) their repeatability and controlled conditions,
(iii) the considerable need for reliable experimental data for
calibration and verification of numerical models,
it is assured that physical models will keep their pivotal
role for many decades to come.
Acknowledgments
This paper was partly based on an earlier paper drafted by a team
consisting of Prof. Dr Huib de Vriend (Delft University of Tech-
nology), Prof. Dr Bill Kamphuis (Queens University, Ontario,
Canada), Dr Gaele Rodenhuis, director Science and Technology,
WL | Delft Hydraulics and Ad van Os, coordinator HYDRALAB.
 354 van Os et al.

That paper also benefited from discussion with the following Nationality Name of Organization Representative
participants:
E CEDEX (Centro de Estudios y R. Gutierrez Serret
• Prof. Dr A. Sanchez-Arcilla, Univ. Polytechnica de Catalunya, Experimentación de Obras
Barcelona, Spain/member HYDRALAB Públicas)
• Prof. Dr H. Oumeraci, Leichtweiss Institut, University of
F EDF-LNHE (Electricité de M. Benoit
Braunschweig, Germany/Forchungszentrum Küste, Hannover/ France)
member HYDRALAB
• Dr H.H. Dette, Leichtweiss Institut, University of F Sogelerg SOGREAH M. Canel
Braunschweig, Germany
HU VITUKI — Water Resources P. Bakonyi
• Mr J. Kirkegaard, Danish Hydraulic Institute, Denmark/
Research Centre
member HYDRALAB
• Prof. Dr J.D. Nieuwenhuis, Delft University of Tech- UK QinetiQ D. Kelly
nology/chairman Scientific Advisory Board WL | Delft
Hydraulics P LNEC (Laboratório Nacional de M. Marcos Rita
Engenharia Civil)
• Prof. Dr J. Agema, professor emeritus Delft University of
Technology/member Scientific Advisory Board WL | Delft
Downloaded by [The University Of Melbourne Libraries] at 14:48 05 June 2016

Not partner of HYDRALAB-II, but participating since 2001

Hydraulics D Franzius Institut A. Matheja
• Prof. H. Ligteringen, Delft University of Technology/
De Weger Consulting Engineers
• Prof. Dr P.G.F.F. Augustinus, Utrecht University Appendix B
• Mr J. Lindenberg, GeoDelft
• Mr A. Leusink, NEDECO Topics that can be handled by hydraulic physical modelling
Prof. Richard Soulsby, HR Wallingford, UK and the The following non-exhaustive lists illustrate topics that are likely
HYDRALAB coordinator Ad van Os, WL | Delft Hydraulics, to be important applications of physical modelling in future
the Netherlands edited the present paper, with contributions from research and development.
the HYDRALAB Consortium members (see Appendix A).
Topics in environmental hydraulics

Appendix A • Coastal flooding and sea defence structures

Nationality Name of Organization
Members of the HYDRALAB-II Consortium
NL WL | Delft Hydraulics —
Coordinator
UK HR Wallingford Ltd
E UPC (Universitat Politécnica de
Catalunya)
E Canal de Experiencias
Hidrodynámicas del Pardo
DK DHI Water & Environment
(Dansk Hydraulisk Institut)
F Université Joseph Fourier —
Grenoble I, Coriolis Turntable
D HSVA (Hamburgisches
Schiffbauversuchsanstalt GmbH)
D FZK (Forschungszentrum Küste)
NO SINTEF (Foundation for
Technical and Industrial
Research at the Norwegian
Institute of Technology) also
representing TMS (Trondheim
Marine Systems)
— overtopping under wave action;
Representative — interactions with morphodynamics;
— embankment breaching;
A.G. van Os
— stability of coastal structures;
M. Klein Breteler — breaching failures of non-homogeneous mounds/
embankments/ridges and erodibility;
R. Soulsby — effects of spray on loadings, overtopping, and environmen-
tal damage;
A. Sanchez-Arcilla
— development of innovative structures, particularly for
breakwaters and other protection structures.
J. Riola • Hydrodynamic and morphodynamic processes in the
surf zone
J. Kirkegaard
— breaking waves;
— impact loading.
• Wave/structure/foundation interactions, modelling and con-
J. Sommeria sequences of multi-element dynamics, including interactions
between scour/deposition and structure stability/performance.
K.-U. Evers • Harbour design studies
— optimization of plan configuration;
— length of breakwaters etc. to optimize port down-time
J. Grüne versus costs;
S.-M. Løvås
— ship motions;
— harbour disturbance.
• Design of breakwaters and other coastal structures
— effectiveness;
— breaking wave impacts;
— stability of rubble mound, geotextile containers, etc.;
 The future role of experimental methods in European hydraulic research 355

— Forchheimer flow in porous media (rubble mounds, filter — influence of gas content in water on cavitation, noise and
layers); pressure fluctuations;
— development of empirical design formulae. — leading edge sheet cavitation.
• River flooding • Seakeeping
— complex flood plains with pierced embankments, groynes, — regular, irregular waves and wave packet;
hedges, buildings etc. — wave generation and absorption;
• Coastal development — breaking waves;
— erosion of soft cliffs by waves; — free surface waves;
— effects of channels, shoals or other bed features on water — oblique waves;
levels, wave propagation and sediment transport. — bow and stern flow;
• Recreational beaches — wave impact and slamming;
— shingle beaches (with berms); — damage stability and capsizing;
— erosion of beaches. — passive devices and active controls;
• Scour near non-standard structures — ocean engineering and stationary floating systems;
— including time development. — ship loads and responses;
• Hydro-geotechnical research — shifting cargo;
Downloaded by [The University Of Melbourne Libraries] at 14:48 05 June 2016

— Soil–water–structure interaction. — new innovative designs.

• Coastal protection systems, usually with strong interactions
with beach/dune/ridge morphodynamics.
• Hydraulics of complex structures
— pumping stations, intakes, spillways;
— including time development.
• Development and checking of (floating) structures to be used
in exposed (waves, currents, ice) locations
• Gravity currents and mixing processes along complex terrains.
• Transport of mixed sand and mud in waves and currents.
• Sediment and pollutant transport phenomena.
• Stratified flow phenomena, including internal waves.
• Biological effects
— effect of submerged vegetation (e.g. flow resistance, wave
damping, erosion control);
— hydropower regulation (e.g. stranding of fish).
Topics in ship design
• Ship resistance
— hull form optimization;
— drag reduction and skin friction;
— high speed ships;
— new designs (SWATH, SES, pentamaran, etc.);
— resistance tests with semi-displacement hull.
• Ship propulsion
— propeller hull interaction;
— rudder propeller interaction;
— waterjets;
— azimuthing podded drive systems.
• Propeller and cavitation
— cavitation and erosion on propellers and rudders;
— wake distribution measurements;
— pressure fluctuation measurements;
— thrust -, torque measurements;
— noise measurements of cavitating and non-cavitating
propellers;
— measurement of rudder forces;
— flow visualization studies;
— influence of appendages on wake, cavitation and
propulsion;
• Ship manoeuvring
— simulation of standard manoeuvres;
— acceleration turns;
— coasting and stopping manoeuvres.
Topics in ice-related research (Photo 4)
• Icebreaking ships
— icebreaking resistance;
— propulsive efficiency;
— azimuthing podded drives;
— propeller ice interaction;
— ridge breaking;
— ramming;
— ice management procedures;
— operations between offshore loading terminals and ves-
sels (e.g. supply/loading vessel) in ice;
— manoeuvrability in ice;
— target oriented and rational ship hull development for
icebreaking ships;
— reduction of total icebreaking resistance;
— winter navigation on inland waterways;
— shallow water icebreakers (e.g. supply vessels);
— simulation of broken ice floes under the hull of ice-
breaker.
• Offshore structures in ice
— ice loads on marine structures (e.g. lighthouse, bridge
piers);
— ice loads on cylindrical and conical structures (vertical,
inclined, jacket platform);
— single point moorings (SPM) in ice;
— offshore loading terminals in ice;
— floating production and storage units (FPSU);
— ice loads acting on artificial islands;
— Arctic transport systems (e.g. icebreaking tankers and
cargo ships, pusher barge systems);
— drilling barges or platforms in ice covered (shallow)
waters;
— ice induced vibrations on marine structures.
 356 van Os et al.
• Ice mechanics
— testing of new technology to investigate small scale phys-
ical, biological and chemical processes in sea ice under
adjustable temperature and light regimes;
— processes of sea ice formation and accompanying
changes in its properties;
— ice texture and ice properties;
— investigation of ice failure processes (e.g. bending,
buckling, crushing);
— material testing at cold climate conditions.
Downloaded by [The University Of Melbourne Libraries] at 14:48 05 June 2016
• Arctic environment protection
— simulation of oil spill scenarios (e.g. spreading, fate and
weathering of oil);
— model tests on oil spills under arctic conditions;
— development and testing of oil spill recovery systems;
— development of new oil spill containment and cleanup
techniques;
— bio-remediation of pollution such as oil spill on sea ice.