Engineering: College of Engineering Centenary Scholarship: Simulation of coastal erosion under storm surge conditions

Subject areas: Civil Engineering, Coastal Engineering

Start date: October 2019

Project description: Large waves and rapid flows can cause serious coastal erosion/scouring, being a great hazard to the coastal communities. This problem is exacerbated by more extreme weather events and rising sea level. Although research efforts have been devoted on scouring problems, the physical process of coastal erosion/scouring under storm surge conditions is still not well understood. To address this knowledge gap, the PhD project aims to conduct a comprehensive numerical study to explore the fundamental mechanism of the interaction between violent water waves and soil particles. The numerical work will be based on a particle method called Consistent Particle Method (CPM), which has intrinsic advantages in modelling large fluid deformation and soil particle motions. Compared to other particle methods, the novelties of CPM lie in the accurate computation of spatial derivatives (e.g. Laplacian and gradient operators) and the capability of modelling discontinuities in fluid properties between different phases. For validation and supplement to the numerical work, experimental studies will be conducted in the wave flume of the research group, focusing on measuring the velocity field of the scouring area. The expected outcome of the numerical-experimental research will give better insight into coastal erosion and provide guidelines for coastal protection.

Project supervisors: Dr Min Luo and Professor Dominic Reeve

Available resources/facilities: The PhD student will be based in the Energy & Environment Group of the Zienkiewicz Centre for Computational Engineering. The Energy & Environment Group has six academic staff and more than 20 PDRAs and PhD students, and works on broad research topics such as coastal and estuarine dynamics, impacts of extreme weather on coastal areas, and renewable energy. The multi-discipline and team-work environment will help the student to establish his/her research expertise. The PhD student will have access to the well-developed CPM source code and the experimental facilities in the Coastal Lab of the group.

Eligibility
Candidates should hold a first class honours degree and/or distinction at Master’s level in Civil Engineering or cognate disciplines.

Experience in numerical simulation and Fortran/C/C++ programming are required. PIV setup and operation experience is advantageous.

We would normally expect the academic and English Language requirements to be met by point of application. For details on the University’s English Language entry requirements, please visit – http://www.swansea.ac.uk/admissions/englishlanguagerequirements/

The scholarship covers the full cost of tuition fees and an annual stipend for UK/EU candidates but tuition fees only for international candidates.