Abstract: Wave-structure interaction is relevant to a range of mechanical processes, including dam reservoirs, flood protection barriers, wave energy converters, seawalls, breakwaters, oil and gas platforms and offshore wind turbines. These structures are often exposed to extreme waves, which can potentially lead to structural damage. Structures that undergo non-negligible deformations ‒ referred to as Wave-Flexible Structure Interaction (WFSI) herein ‒ exhibit particularly complex behaviour. This seminar will present recently completed work (Attili et al. 2021, 2023a,b) aimed at predicting the forces, pressures and deflections experienced by rigid and flexible structures under wave impact. Small-scale laboratory experiments have been conducted at the University of Nottingham and were used to calibrate and validate the open-source code solids4foam, which combines Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) with Computational Structural Dynamics (CSD). The validated code was applied to rigid dams impacted by landslide-generated waves ‒ relevant in the context of hydropower dams ‒ as well as to flexible plates in coastal environments subjected to wave impact. The numerical model, in combination with a dimensional analysis, was then used to develop a novel scaling strategy with the potential to accurately model WFSI at reduced scale in future laboratory experiments.
Bio: Dr Valentin Heller (www.drvalentinheller.com) is currently an Associate Professor in Hydraulics in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Nottingham (UoN). Prior to joining UoN, he held an Imperial College London Research Fellowship, a Research Fellowship at the University of Southampton and a postdoctoral position at ETH Zurich, where he also completed his PhD on landslide-tsunamis (2007) and his MSc in Civil Engineering (2004). His research primarily focuses on Experimental and Computational Fluid Dynamics, with applications in fluid-structure interactions. The fluid is typically water, and the structure is often a hydraulic structure such as a dam, wall, landslide or iceberg. Together with his research team, he employs a wide range of measurement systems and open-source codes, including OpenFOAM, DualSPHysics and SWASH. Recent research topics in coastal and hydraulic engineering include wave-flexible-structure interaction, iceberg-tsunamis, novel scaling laws in air-water flows and the influence of the water body geometry and bathymetry on landslide-tsunamis.