Navigation and Maritime structures behaviour
LNEC’s Research Program for 2005-2008

OBJECTIVE

Improve physical and numerical tools for:

METODOLOGY

Development of methodologies for the diagnosis of the structure’s risk status, which based on both the breakwater evolution along time and the results from scale model tests, facilitates the decision making on how and when to repair the structure. For this, use is made of the level III probabilistic tools employed in the safety assessment of the structures safety. This implies the definition of failure modes and of the respective load-resistance functions which have to be valid even for structures with some initial damages. Those relations are to be obtained from long duration scale model tests.

Development and/or improvement of the physical and numerical tools for the study of stability and functionality of the coastal structures.

In what concerns the assessment of navigation safety, numerical models for manoeuvring ships will be improved, namely the phenomena connected to water depth influence and horizontally constrained water. The assessment of port operations safety will be based upon two complementary analyses: numerical modelling, for a preliminary analysis, which will imply the development of a numerical model for the behaviour of moored ships in harbours; and scale modelling, for a detailed assessment, which will lead to the updating of scale model techniques employed for this type of problems.

Improvement of the knowledge and contribute to the development of tools to forecast resonance in harbours.

RESULTS

Improvement in the comprehension and on the physical and numerical modelling of the phenomena that occur in the vicinity of the coastal structures
	Physical model tests of a Rubble mound breakwater. Stability analysis based on different techniques, including photogrametry.

Better understanding of the phenomena associated to ship interaction with waves and with the boundaries of the region where she sails; Tools to support the design of navigation channels; Tools to support the management of port operations.
	Overtopping of porous structures computed by COBRAS-UC e AMAZON models and by physical model tests measurements.
	MEDIRES Project: Tools for the diagnosis and automated inspection of semi-submerged structures.
11 Congress Papers, 5 papers in international and national journals, 2 master theses and 1 Ph.D. thesis.

Research team

Coordinator: Eng. Marcos Rita

LNEC- 5 researchers, 2 Technicians, 2 research fellows.

Other collaborators from: IST (DECivil e Robótica), Universidade de Coimbra, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, University of Cantabria (Spain), the Port Authorities of Sines and of Aviles (Spain).

Research group

LNEC – 2 researchers and 1 research fellow;
Universidade Nova de Lisboa – Eric Didier, Luís Gil;
Universidade do Algarve – Ana Matias, Óscar Ferreira.

Finaced by

Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia

Figure 1 – Numerical flume geometry, envelop of surface elevation and harmonics generated along the flume

Figure 2 – Energy spectrum of the measured data from pressure transducers deployed during 10 minutes at 03h 50m of 19 February 2003