Flood threat anomaly for the low coastal areas of the English Channel based on analysis of recent characteristic flood occurrences

In the English Channel, extreme surge heights did not occur at the time of extreme high tides during the last decades and maximum recorded heights usually do not exceed the maximum astronomical tide by more than a few decimetres. To understand whether this lack of coincidence may be due to specific phenomena or only to chance, we have studied hourly tide records lasting a few decades from nine English and nine French stations as well as air pressure and wind data from nearby meteorological observatories. Among the case studies of moderate flooding at several coastal stations occurring during spring tide, we have selected those of 24–25/10/1980 and of 30/01/1983 to 02/02/1983 as representative of a normal situation without any special chance. The third case study 26–28/02/1990 was potentially more dangerous because of the storm intensity and duration; however, by chance, surge peaks occurred near the low tide. Finally, the propagation of the surge peak of 15–16/10/1987, which reached the maximum height recorded during all the instrumental period at several stations, has been followed all along the English Channel, using the hourly records of 12 tide-gauge stations and of 16 meteorological stations. The surge peak of this great storm, probably the strongest in the last two centuries, occurred everywhere at high tide and spread with the same velocity of the tidal wave. Fortunately, no major flooding occurred because it was the day after a neap tide. In conclusion, some good fortune has saved the low coastal areas of the English Channel from major floods during the last decades. However, the occurrence of the peak of a strong storm surge arriving near the western entrance of the Channel at the time of a great astronomical high tide is a possible event that could be devastating along both sides of the Channel coasts. Main parts of this paper have been presented orally in June 2005 at the joint INQUA–IGCP 495 Meeting “Dunkerque 2005” and in February 2006 at the ASLO-TOS-AGU “Ocean Sciences Meeting” (Honolulu, HI).     

地震作用下立式储液罐罐壁“象足”变形仿真分析

基于ANSYS软件建立了考虑液体晃动和罐底提离立式储液罐有限元模型,分别进行了水平地震和竖向地震作用下罐壁“象足”变形分析。分析表明:立式储液罐罐壁“象足”变形主要是由罐壁纵向压应力超过临界应力而产生的局部屈曲破坏,并非强度破坏。因罐底提离导致的罐底与基础反复撞击加大了作用在罐壁上的应力,使罐壁底部“象足”变形不断发展,最终导致罐壁撕裂。在完全相同地震加速度作用下,水平地震作用比竖向地震作用罐壁更早更容易进入屈曲状态,产生“象足”变形。     

A nonlinear polar coordinate shallow water model for tsunami computation along North Sumatra and Penang Island

A nonlinear shallow water model in cylindrical polar coordinate system is developed, using an explicit finite difference scheme with a very fine resolution, to compute different aspects of tsunami at North Sumatra and the adjacent island Simeulue in Indonesia, and the Penang Island in Peninsular Malaysia. The pole of the frame is placed on the mainland of Penang (100.5°E) and the model area extends up to the west of Sumatra (87.5°E). The model is applied to simulate the propagation of tsunami wave towards North Sumatra, Simeulue and Penang Islands associated with Indonesian tsunami of 26 December 2004. The model is also applied to compute water levels along the coastal belts of those islands. Computed and observed water level data are found to be in good agreement and North Sumatra is found to be vulnerable for very high surges. The computed and observed arrival times of high surges are also in reasonable agreement everywhere. Further studies are carried out to investigate the effect of convective terms and it is found that their effects are insignificant in tsunami propagation and weakly significant for wave amplitude very near to the coast.     

地震作用下储罐与管道连接波纹管的动力响应

针对储罐与管道连接这个抗震薄弱环节进行研究，考虑了储罐与地基、管道与地基的相互弹性作用及流固耦合作用，使计算模型比较符合工程实际情况。将储罐罐壁看作为刚体，将波纹管部分和管道部分分别用旋转锥壳单元和空间梁单元离散化，通过分析得到波纹管与储罐连接接合面、波纹管与管道连接接合面不同单元之间的位移协调约束方程，并用罚函数法进行处理。根据流体力学速度势理论和有限元法的基本理论，利用哈密尔顿变分原理推导出储罐与管道连接波纹管系统动力分析方程，编制了系统动力分析有限元程序，计算了垂直地震激励不同场地土地基条件下储罐与管道连接波纹管位移响应。     

Pyroclastic flows from the 1991 eruption of Unzen volcano,Japan

Pyroclastic flows from Unzen were generated by gravitational collapse of the growing lava dome. As soon as the parental lobe failed at the edge of the dome, spontaneous shattering of lava occurred and induced a gravity flow of blocks and finer debris. The flows had a overhanging, tongue-like head and cone- or rollershaped vortices expanding outward and upward. Most of the flows traveled from 1 to 3 km, but some flows reached more than 4 km, burning houses and killing people in the evacuated zone of Kita-kamikoba on the eastern foot of the volcano. The velocities of the flows ranged from 15 to 25 m/s on the gentle middle flank. Observations of the flows and their deposits suggest that they consisted of a dense basal avalanche and an overlying turbulent ash cloud. The basal avalanche swept down a topographic low and formed to tongue-like lobe having well-defined levees; it is presumed to have moved as a non-Newtonian fluid. The measured velocities and runout distances of the flows can be matched to a Bingham model for the basal avalanche by the addition of turbulent resistance. The rheologic model parameters for the 29 May flow are as follows: the density is 1300 kg/m³, the yield strength is 850 Pa, the viscosity is 90 Pa s, and the thickness of the avalanche is 2 m. The ash cloud is interpreted as a turbulent mixing layer above the basal avalanche. The buoyant portions of the cloud produced ash-fall deposits, whereas the dense portions moved as a surge separated from the parental avalanche. The ash-cloud surges formed a wide devastated zone covered by very thin debris. The initial velocities of the 3 June surges, when they detached from avalanches, are determined by the runout distance and the angle of the energy-line slope. A comparison between the estimated velocities of the 3 June avalanches and the surges indicates that the surges that extended steep slopes along the avalanche path, detached directly from the turbulent heads of the avalanches. The over-running surge that reached Kita-Kamikoba had an estimated velocity higher than that of the avalanche; this farther-travelled surge is presumed to have been generated by collapse of a rising ash-cloud plume.     

对南海季风进退及强度的气候分析

根据南海及其附近地区的海面和高空气象资料,计算了南海的季风指数分布和月、季变化,并根据低空流场分析了季风的来源和进退趋势,对季风的推进路径和强度变化作了讨论。结果表明:南海夏季风首先出现于泰国湾,然后由西南向东北扩展,最早影响南海的夏季风是来自副热带高压南侧的东南气流,其后是通过90°E、105°E附近的越赤道气流;在南海夏季风盛行后,印度季风才并入。对冬季风的强度、厚度和影响范围,也进行了较详尽的分析。     

Benchmark computations of wave run-up on single cylinder and four cylinders by naoe-FOAM-SJTU solver

The benchmark simulations of wave run-up on a fixed single truncated circular cylinder and four circular cylinders are presented in this paper. Our in-house CFD solver naoe-FOAM-SJTU is adopted which is an unsteady two-phase CFD code based on the open source package OpenFOAM. The Navier-Stokes equations are employed as the governing equations, and the volume of fluid (VOF) method is applied for capturing the free surface. Monochromatic incident waves with the specified wave period and wave height are simulated and wave run-up heights around the cylinder are computed and recorded with numerical virtual wave probes. The relationship between the wave run-up heights and the incident wave parameters are analyzed. The numerical results indicate that the presented naoe-FOAM-SJTU solver can provide accurate predictions for the wave run-up on one fixed cylinder and four cylinders, which has been proved by the comparison of simulated results with experimental data.     

An Experimental Investigation on the Dynamic Response of a Damaged Ship with a realistic arrangement of the flooded compartment

The dynamics of a damaged ship in waves is a complex phenomenon regarding fluid and structure interactions. Flooded water motions in the damaged compartment could be influenced by decks, obstructions and obstacles in the compartment. This becomes particularly relevant in case of flooding in the engine room that is usually characterized by the presence of large objects such as engines and machineries. In such cases the possibility to better understand the behavior of a damaged ship, influenced by the fluid and structure interactions, could provide novel outcomes and thus enhance the damaged ship safety.In this paper an experimental campaign is conducted on a passenger ferry hull. The effects of obstacles in the engine room compartment, such as decks and engines, on ship roll responses, are studied. Roll decay in still water and steady roll responses in beam regular waves at zero speed are measured for the empty compartment and for the compartment with obstructions, as defined above.The main outcomes from the conducted experiments disclose a mitigation of the resonant behavior of the coupled system, ship with damaged compartment, by having engine shapes occupying the flooded engine room. Moreover it is possible to observe how the resonant frequency of the ship modifies having a more realistic arrangement of damaged compartment and how motion RAOs and roll decay characteristics modify accordingly.     

波浪水槽中振动格栅湍流特征的实验研究

在波浪水槽中采用格栅振动的方式产生湍流,研究振动格栅产生湍流的特征。本文开展了4类实验,调节测量点到格栅平均位置的距离、格栅振动频率、振动冲程,采用ADV测量水体中单点的脉动速度。实验结果显示,湍流强度在一定范围内随离格栅距离的增大而逐渐减小,随着振动频率的增大而呈幂指数增大,随着振动冲程的增大而呈幂指数增大。同时还比较了两个不同格栅产生湍流的不同。结果显示,在波浪水槽中,振动格栅产生湍流的强度还与格栅的长度尺寸有关,这与在水箱中振动格栅产生湍流的特征不同。     

2003年广东风暴潮分析和预报总结

2003年登陆广东的3个台风(0307号伊布都、0312号科罗旺、0313号杜鹃),中心气压及风力都十分强,分别造成全省沿海较高的风暴潮位,甚至部分沿海破了或平了历史记录。3个强台风同一年登陆广东且分别造成珠江口、粤西、粤东较严重风暴潮的情况十分罕见。本文从台风特性、台风增水、台风风暴高潮位、重现期等方面进行分析,并从中分别总结出我省沿海各岸段台风风暴潮的主要特点及作业预报经验。