Activity

Development of a fast towing platform in the irregular wave channel (COI2) of the LNEC Maritime Laboratory, in collaboration with partners INEGI and Tecnoveritas.
The objective of the project is to carry out hydrodynamic performance tests of vessels and hydrofoils at COI2: the models, which may be wing profiles or hydrofoils, surface or submerged vehicle hulls, are tested at a controlled travel speed.
They are towed along the channel, while being subjected to incident waves and/or forced movements, to evaluate the effect of the hydrodynamic forces in action and allow the evaluation of their performance.

That aims to provide an innovative set of models, methods, tools and technologies that is holistic and robust enough to provide quantitative and qualitative data with high spatial and temporal resolution, solutions adapted to each location, and forecasts with less uncertainty of single or multiple risks due to extreme weather events under different climate change scenarios.

This study consisted on the development and application of HIDRALERTA Early-Warning System to Forecast and manage risks associated with sea waves in the following Azorean ports: Madalena do Pico and São Roque do Pico, both on Pico Island, Azores. It also intended to guarantee the functionality and operability of the system that is already implemented in the port of Praia da Vitória, on Terceira Island. On a daily basis, this system assess and predicts both the risk of coastal overtopping and associated flooding, and the risk for moored ships in the three aforementioned ports. The final objective of this project was to increase port operations security levels, including people, vehicles, buildings, ships, equipment and port infrastructure security, in the three ports. This projet is integrated in Portos dos Açores' participation in the INTERREG's projet ecomarport. This project is part of the Ports of the Azores’ participation of in the Operational Program INTERREG MAC 2014-2020 – ECOMARPORT.

Portuguese coast is directly exposed to Atlantic Ocean waves. Severe storms frequently impact on it, causing hazards for the population and coastal infrastructures and having serious economic and environmental consequences.

Then, there is a need to provide the national authorities with tools for an integrated management of these hazards and risks.

The project BSafe4Sea aims to develop, test and prove the concept of forecasting the structural behaviour of rubble mound breakwaters, which will form the basis of an innovative decision support system. Drone photography, video monitoring and satellite navigation, together with probabilistic evaluation of breakwater’s behaviour based on physical and numerical models, will support the planning and prioritization of maintenance and repair works, increasing the safety, functionality and resilience of these structures. Such a system is urgently required due to the extreme conditions that breakwaters have to withstand, including the effects of climate change, and due to their relevance in modern transport networks for goods and passengers.

The main objective of the project is to develop, test and prove the concept of an operational coastal flooding and erosion early warning system (EWS) for both sandy and armoured coasts. The EWS will be fed with results from process-based state of the art models (e.g. DELFT-3D, SWAN, XBeach 2D) applied at pre-determined coastal hotspots. The input data will be provided by large-scale forecast models and the downscaled high resolution models will be put in practice by UAlg and LNEC teams. To save computing time and to provide a fast forecast (3 days) before the event for the hotspots, a novel methodology will be implemented based on a Bayesian Network (BN).

The projects objective is to develop the recently created concept of dual chamber oscillating water column device – a device whose high-performance leads to significant improvement of energy production with respect to the conventional OWC devices - so that it can be employed either as an additional feature of existing rubble mound breakwaters or as standalone harbor creation structure.
It is expected that at the end of the project a set of tools for the design of this type of device, both from the point of view of wave energy conversion and from the structure itself will be available.

This project aims to develop a forecasting system for maneuvering and moored ships safety in ports under extreme conditions.

The MOSAIC.pt project aims to develop an innovative flood risk management framework for coastal zones, including estuaries, based on the integration of predictive models and real-time monitoring data, and taking into account the different dimensions of the vulnerability.

Project financed under the 1st Call for Strategic Projects under the Regulation of Access to Financing Projects for Scientific Research and Technological Development of FCT.
This project aims to develop a computing methodology and the establishment of technical recommendations for the design of coastal protection works in urban fronts, based on the quantification of the agents and forcing actions, by considering their different scales and the expected scenarios of the sea level rise of the risk on the urban front and of the overtopping as a function of the types of protection and scenarios provided.

This project proposes the creation of an integrated tool made of several numerical models able to characterize the wave climate and its effects in ports, particularly in terms of movements of manoeuvring ships and when moored to a pier. The validation of this tool will be accomplished by using physical model tests, to be carried out under the scope of the project, and in situ measurements made in a Portuguese port. The information obtained from this tool will help the management of port operations and therefore will increase the competitiveness of ports.

The co-ordinated and integrated approach of HYDRALAB aims at structuring the access to unique and costly hydraulic and ice engineering research infrastructures in the European Research Area. The network of HYDRALAB is unique in the hydraulic research community and has large experience in co-operating since its start in 1997. Over the years the network has grown from 8 participants in 1997 to a total of 33 partners and associated partners from 15 countries in HYDRALAB+.

The purpose of the DITOWEC project is the development of an innovative Integrated Tool coupling the numerical models SWAN and COULWAVE, for the wave propagation from offshore to nearshore, and the URANS (Unsteady Reynolds Average Navier-Stokes) numerical models FLUENT and IH2VOF, for wave-structure interaction, hydrodynamics and aerodynamics of the OWC device.

This Integrated Tool will be validated with experimental data from physical model tests performed in one of LNEC’s flumes. Afterwards it will be applied to the real and operating OWC-WEC- of Pico, Azores (Portugal), for real bathymetry and offshore wave climate.

HYDRALAB III is an Integrated Infrastructure Initiative (I3) to optimize the important position of laboratory experiments in the field of Hydraulics, Geophysical Hydrodynamics, Environmental Fluid Dynamics, Ship Dynamics and Ice Engineering (HyGESI).

OBJECTIVES
The main objectives of the SPACE project are the development of the numerical SPH model, based on the Lagrangean form of the Fluid Mechanics equations, for applications requiring the interaction of the waves with impermeable and porous coastal structures (vertical breakwaters and rubble-mound breakwaters made with rock or with artificial blocks), more specifically to calculate the forces on the structure and the overtopping discharge.

For this purpose, field measurements were performed by the University of Algarve (UAlg) in the West breakwater of Albufeira Harbour (Algarve, south coast of Portugal). Overtopping data resulting from field campaigns were used and analysed for determination of scale effects, by comparison with results from physical model tests to be performed at LNEC.

The project aims to develop techniques to deal with the problems in the construction of submarine outfalls in regions with soil that could be classified as low quality or low resistance material, for being composed of fine material (clay and mud). Despite the experience with structures built on muddy soils, settlement problems, scour and liquefaction still present considerable uncertainty.
The main objectives of the project are:

• To analyse the soil-structure-wave interaction, specifically in the topics of scour, liquefaction and soil strength loss.
• To apply the acquired knowledge to solve the typical problems of the construction and exploitation of submarine outfalls on muddy soils.

The project BSafe4Sea aims to develop, test and prove the concept of forecasting the structural behaviour of rubble mound breakwaters, which will form the basis of an innovative decision support system. Drone photography, video monitoring and satellite navigation, together with probabilistic evaluation of breakwater’s behaviour based on physical and numerical models, will support the planning and prioritization of maintenance and repair works, increasing the safety, functionality and resilience of these structures. Such a system is urgently required due to the extreme conditions that breakwaters have to withstand, including the effects of climate change, and due to their relevance in modern transport networks for goods and passengers.

The main objectives of the Project are:

• Development of a prototype of an integrated system, appropriated to help in the decision-making process in coastal engineering studies, using GIS huge capabilities. The system must be modular, to enable its easy expansion, must be built as a single application and be able to coordinate the tasks related with the running of the models (including automatic procedures for visualization and analysis of data and results that are relevant for the decision-making process);
• Assessment of the errors associated with the use of the system and their influence in the decision-making process: errors associated with e.g. bathymetric interpolations, data transfer between grids of different resolutions, model coupling, or simplification of physical boundaries;
• Development of an extension for emergency situations for the Sines harbour, including the simulation of several scenarios in order to build risk maps;
• Establishment of guidelines for coastal engineering studies with numerical models.

The objective of this project is to build an integrated tool for harbour management.
This tool consists in a forecast service to account for the effects of sea waves inside harbour areas, namely on the port infrastructures, navigation and operations, and is connected to a warning system prepared to issue warnings and alerts to the relevant port activity partners.

The main objective of the project is to contribute to the understanding and numerical modelling of the wave breaking and cross-shore sediment transport phenomena in coastal regions.
More specifically, it is intended to:

• Perform scale-model tests to determine the RTFN at the beginning, during and at the end of the wave breaking process
• Develop a new wave breaking model based on the RTFN concept and to implement it in phase-averaged and phase-resolving numerical models for wave propagation
• Analyse the effects of the sea waves non linearity on the sediment fluxes and on the beach morphodynamics
• Improve sediment transport models and empirical formulae
• Develop a device to survey bottom depth based on fiber optic cable
• Carry out field campaigns for bathymetric surveys and sea wave and current measurements

Since wave grouping is a frequent characteristic of the sea states generated close to the Portuguese coast, the objectives of this project are to investigate how long waves at the coast can be generated from those wave groups and how do they propagate along the coast.

The aim of this project was to perform a comprehensive validation of wave propagation models (models based upon the linear or non-linear formulations) with classical and with real test cases.
This validation contributed to improve our knowledge on the phenomena occurring during the wave propagation in coastal zones, which, in turn, will enable a better modelling of these phenomena.
The application of wave models to classical and real test cases allowed the study of the models`behaviour in different situations of wave propagation.
This work contributed:

1. to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of the models;
2. to extend the range of applicability of both types of models in coastal engineering studies;
3. to get the background needed to the application of the model; and to the definition of model` s operational conditions.

The objective of this project is to develop and classify from a probabilistic or stochastic standpoint the different subjects of the numerical and physical simulation on wave flumes or tanks, and to implement on the computer a set of methods for the characterization and simulation of sea waves and processing wave data either from nature or from wave flumes by using the so-called "SAM” integrated software package.

The tests aim to verify the behavior of the breakwater extension from the point of view of stability and overtopping, to evaluate the shelter conditions provided by this structure, as well as to measure pressures on the superstructure.

The study consists of the analysis in a physical and numerical model of the vertical distribution of pressure induced by maritime agitation incident on pillars with a circular section, positioned vertically and inclined.

Numerical model studies on sea wave conditions carried out within the scope of the requalification of the Lugar de Baixo marina, in the Madeira Island, for the current conditions and for a set of alternative solutions proposed by Ponta do Oeste - Sociedade de Promoção e Desenvolvimento da Zona Oeste da Madeira, S. A. (Ponta do Oeste, S. A.) for the entrance and interior of the marina.

The main goal of the study was to evaluate the behaviour of the designed solution in what concerns to its stability, permissible overtopping and pressure exerted on the crown-wall. The planned reconstruction is part of a series of works to be carried out in the port, following the damage caused by Hurricane Lorenzo.

Following the damage that occurred in the port of Lajes das Flores during the passage of hurricane Lorenzo, it was felt the need to protect at least the rooting of the port's jetty, in order to provide the port with some operability that would guarantee the population of Ilha das Flores can continue to be served by sea. Tests in physical model of the proposed solution were carried out at LNEC in 2020.

This report describes the numerical model study for the characterization of the velocity field in a section of the submerged intake facility I of ACUINOVA, at Mira beach. For that, numerical model RANS (Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes) ANSYS-FLUENT was used to conduct three-dimensional modelling of water intake area that includes the two conduits with the 4 chimneys per conduct. The simulations are performed considering several intake flow rates.

The study of the 3rd Phase of Expansion of the East Breakwater of the Terminal XXI at the Port of Sines was based on its reproduction at a reduced three-dimensional physical model built at a scale of 1:65. The aim of the study was to verify the hydraulic stability and overtopping of the solution proposed by the designer for the extension of the East breakwater. In addition to this solution, alternative configurations were also tested with the aim of optimizing the breakwater design stability.

With the increase in maritime traffic, the Port of Aveiro’s Administration (APA) intends to improve accessibility conditions, in order to provide safety conditions for the passage of larger vessels than currently available.

The study in progress at LNEC aims to suggest modifications to the port’s entrance geometry as well as to the hydrodynamic and morphodynamic conditions, that can satisfactorily reconcile the various factors that influence the port’s access safety conditions.

With the goal of studying the best solution for the extension of its outer breakwater in order to increase its sheltering conditions and allow the entrance of container ships up to 300 m in length, numerical and physical modelling of wave propagation in Leixões harbour were performed. The current layout and 6 alternatives of the extension were tested.
The impacts of the different alternatives were analysed using numerical modelling, regarding resonance inside the port, sediment dynamics and wave conditions for surfing practice at Matosinhos beach.

The main goal of this study is the monitoring of the structure’s behaviour, through the analysis of the data collected during the annual monitoring campaigns performed by LNEC.