Award Abstract #0321236
MRI: Acquisition of a Directional Random Wave Generator for the Coastal Engineering Laboratory Wave Basin

NSF Org:	CMMI Division of Civil, Mechanical, and Manufacturing Innovation
Initial Amendment Date:	August 6, 2003
Latest Amendment Date:	August 6, 2003
Award Number:	0321236
Award Instrument:	Standard Grant
Program Manager:	Clark V. Cooper CMMI Division of Civil, Mechanical, and Manufacturing Innovation ENG Directorate for Engineering
Start Date:	August 1, 2003
Expires:	July 31, 2006 (Estimated)
Awarded Amount to Date:	$800000
Investigator(s):	Billy Edge b-edge@tamu.edu (Principal Investigator) Kuang-An Chang (Co-Principal Investigator) Douglas Sherman (Co-Principal Investigator) Patrick Lynett (Co-Principal Investigator)
Sponsor:	Texas Engineering Experiment Station TEES State Headquarters Bldg. College Station, TX 77843 979/862-1696
NSF Program(s):	STRUCTURAL MATERIALS AND MECH, MAJOR RESEARCH INSTRUMENTATION
Field Application(s):	0308000 Industrial Technology
Program Reference Code(s):	CVIS, 1189, 1039
Program Element Code(s):	1635, 1189

ABSTRACT



Abstract

The College of Engineering and Department of Civil Engineering at Texas A&M University is committed

to Coastal Engineering as one of the research growth areas. The College completed a new Coastal Engineering Laboratory in

September 2002 that contains a 22.8m by 36.6m by 1.5m deep wave basin, making it the largest wave

basin at a US academic institution. This basin will be used for studying three areas: nearshore coastal

processes, wave-structure interaction and coastal environmental dynamics.In the three-dimensional basin, a segmented, multidirectional random wavemaker will be designed,

constructed, and installed to generate short and long period waves in a water depth up to 1.2 m. The

wavemaker will have a stroke of approximately one meter, which is adequate to generate both short and

long waves. Additionally, the equipment will be capable of creating solitons, directional waves and

focusing and defocusing waves. Participation of remote users will be encouraged through teleobservation

capabilities.

The equipment will be used to study research issues of state and national

significance as well as applied research addressing practical problems. Studies will include the effects of

storm surges and ocean waves on human safety and infrastructure by studying areas of wave-structure

interaction, wave hydrodynamics such as flooding and inundation, erosion and transport of sediments,

scour, and debris flow. It will also be used to study the influence of waves and currents in the coastal

zone on morphological evolution. Major sources of support for the operation and maintenance of the laboratory will be from

State initiatives, national research grants and industry testing.

Students at the graduate and undergraduate level will use the equipment. Groups from geography,

oceanography and engineering will be using the equipment to integrate research with teaching. Each

group of users will be given training commensurate with their intended use of the equipment. Some users

will be merely observers of ongoing experiments and others, primarily of graduate MS and Ph.D.

students, will actually be conducting experiments. Training for non-resident researchers will be provided

to the specific users on a case-by-case basis through hands on training in the laboratory and via-web

based instruction. The web-based instruction will use teleobservation capabilities in the laboratory. For

many, the Laboratory and the three-dimensional equipment will serve as a learning opportunity to better

understand wave and current dynamics and the processes causing the extensive damages of hurricanes

and coastal storms. Our educational mission will include the integration of research and education from

K-12 and undergraduate research through existing campus programs that will ensure the availability of

the equipment to underrepresented groups.

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