The study, conducted at the Laboratory for Applied Hydraulics (LHA) of HEPIA in Geneva, Switzerland, aimed to protect a reedbed along Lake Geneva's shoreline from erosion caused by wind-induced waves. A physical model of a double vertical-wall breakwater was created and tested under simulated 50-year and 100-year return period wind conditions. The objective was to assess the breakwater's effectiveness in dissipating wave energy and reducing shear stress on the reedbed substratum. Met-Flow UVP probes were utilized to monitor the flow velocities and validate the breakwater design.
UVP-DUO Usage:
The UVP-DUO was employed to measure the horizontal flow velocities at the reedbed edge. The UVP-DUO setup included a 2 MHz ultrasound velocity probe positioned at a 30° angle from the horizontal. Key measurement parameters included a velocity range of 0.09 to 1.48 m/s, a velocity resolution of 49 mm/s, and a spatial resolution of 193 mm. The data acquisition time was set to 3 ms, with a sampling frequency of 4170 Hz. These measurements provided detailed velocity profiles, which were critical in calculating the bed shear stress and evaluating the erosion potential of the reedbed substratum.
Advantages of UVP:
The UVP-DUO offers several advantages for such experimental setups:
1. High Precision and Resolution: The UVP-DUO achieves an accuracy below 1%, making it suitable for precise flow measurements.
2. Comprehensive Data Acquisition: The UVP-DUO can capture detailed velocity profiles with high temporal and spatial resolution, essential for accurate shear stress calculations.
3. Flexibility: The system's ability to operate at various frequencies and its compatibility with different experimental configurations allow for a wide range of applications in hydraulic modeling.
4. Robust Analysis: The UVP-DUO's data processing capabilities enable real-time analysis and visualization of flow dynamics, facilitating informed adjustments to the experimental setup.
In conclusion, the UVP-DUO's precise measurement capabilities and robust data analysis tools were pivotal in verifying the effectiveness of the breakwater design. This ensured the protection of the reedbed from erosion, contributing to the success of the Lake Geneva revitalization project.
Read the paper in our digital library here.
Geneva lake: a 100-year simulation of breakwater's effectiveness with UVP-DUO