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Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference: GR/M49748/01
Title: PROPERTIES OF WAVE IMPACT GENERATED PRESSURES IN WATER FILLED CRACKS
Principal Investigator: Muller, Dr G
Other Investigators:
Cook, Professor MJ Cooker, Dr M
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
Department: Sch Planning Architecture and Civil Eng
Organisation: Queen's University of Belfast
Scheme: Standard Research (Pre-FEC)
Starts: 01 July 1999 Ends: 31 December 2001 Value (£): 107,342
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:
Coastal & Waterway Engineering
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:
No relevance to Underpinning Sectors
Related Grants:
Panel History:  
Summary on Grant Application Form
Blockwork structures are amongst the most common in coastal defences (harbour walls, sea walls, breakwaters). There exists a large historical record of failures of these structures. Many failures are suspected to be caused by wave impact pressures propagating into the water filled joints of the structures. The possibility of this happening was only established recently, Muller (1997), but little is known about this effect and the characteristics of impact-induced pressures in confined zones. Of particular importance in this area seem possible resonance effects and non-linear propagation effects such as pulse steepening. The characteristics of pressure pulses travelling into water filled cracks and the effect of crack geometry on these pulses, will be investigated in laboratory experiments. A numerical model will be calibrated and verified with the results from the experiments. This will allow the investigation of geometries difficult to test experimentally and, by using wave impact pressure records from actual field measurements, to assess possible effects at full scale. The results will be published in conference proceedings and journals and will be fed directly into the existing EPSRC Blockwork Network, thus becoming accessible to end-users ranging from scientists to coastal engineers involved in repair and rehabilitation of blockwork structures.
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Organisation Website: http://www.qub.ac.uk