Collaborative Research: Damage Assessment of Coastal Structures Subject to Waterborne Debris Impact under Extreme Wind and Wave Conditions

随着海平面上升和与天气有关的极端事件更加频繁，沿海民用基础设施和社区越来越容易受到洪水的影响，因此受到破坏和破坏的风险也越来越高。在各种与洪水相关的风险中，洪水带来的碎片可能对沿海基础设施（如建筑物、房屋和桥梁）造成破坏。这些碎片（如树木、汽车和船只）被洪水和海浪带走，通常伴随着极端的阵风。目前，在理解和模拟与洪水泥石流相关的关键物理过程方面存在重大差距。该项目将为了解和预测极端洪水和风力条件下的洪水碎片对建筑物的破坏提供科学的方法。这项研究还将得到教育部分的补充，包括讲习班、课程编制和培训示范。该教育项目旨在对广泛的学生（从高中到研究生）产生积极和可衡量的影响，促进少数民族和未被充分代表的群体的参与，并向学生介绍三所参与机构的新研究和多元文化，即哥伦比亚大学、纽约州立大学石溪分校和纽约市立大学。该奖项将有助于国家科学基金会（NSF）在国家减少风暴影响计划（NWIRP）中的作用。本研究的首要目标是了解和量化涉及水风-碎片-结构相互作用的关键力学过程，包括极端水流和风条件下的碎片漂移，碎片与结构的碰撞以及由此产生的损害。采用计算流体力学、计算固体力学和实验室实验的多学科方法将用于实现这一目标。具体的研究任务包括：(1)利用“智能碎片”的创新实验，研究洪水带来的碎片的风和运输效应及其对结构的影响/破坏；(2)新的计算方法和软件，用于综合模拟碎片漂移、撞击和对结构的破坏；(3)在系统层面上，用于碎片影响导致的结构破坏风险评估的基于物理的新型脆弱性曲线。从长远来看，这项研究可以改善易受洪水和碎片影响的结构的设计和缓解策略，通过发展有弹性的海岸线和社区，提高公众的福祉。项目数据将在校园数据库和NSF支持的自然灾害工程研究基础设施数据库（https://www.DesignSafe-ci.org）.This)中存档并公开提供，该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

With rising sea-levels and more frequent weather-related extreme events, coastal civil infrastructure and communities are becoming more flood-prone and consequently subject to an elevated risk of damage and destruction. Among the various flood-related risks, flood-borne debris can be destructive to coastal infrastructure (e.g., buildings, houses, and bridges). Such debris (e.g. trees, cars, and ships) are carried by floods and waves, often in combination with extreme wind gusts. Currently, there is a significant gap in understanding and modeling the key physical processes associated with flood-borne debris. This project will provide a science-based approach to understand and predict the flood-borne debris damages to structures under extreme flood flow and wind conditions. The research will also be complemented by an educational component that includes workshops, curriculum development, and training demonstrations. The educational program will be designed to have positive and measurable impact on a broad spectrum of students (ranging from high school to graduate students), foster an increased participation among minority and underrepresented groups, and inform students of the novel research and diverse cultures of the three participating institutions, i.e., Columbia University, SUNY at Stony Brook, and CUNY City College. This award will contribute to the National Science Foundation (NSF) role in the National Windstorm Impact Reduction Program (NWIRP). The overarching goal of this research is to understand and quantify the critical mechanics processes involved in water-wind-debris-structure interactions, including debris drifting by extreme flow and wind conditions, debris collision with the structure, and the resulting damages. A multidisciplinary approach employing computational fluid dynamics, computational solid mechanics, and laboratory experiments will be used to achieve this goal. Specific research tasks include: (1) innovative experiments deploying “smart debris” to investigate wind and transport effects of flood-borne debris and their impact/damage to structures, (2) new computational methods and software for an integrated simulation of debris drifting, impingement, and damage to structures, and (3) novel physics-based fragility curves, at the system level, for structural failure risk assessment due to debris impacts. In the long term, this research can lead to enhanced designs and mitigation strategies for structures susceptible to the impact of flood and debris, advancing the well-being of the public through development of resilient coastlines and communities. Project data will be archived and made publicly available in campus data repositories and in the NSF-supported Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure Data Depot (https://www.DesignSafe-ci.org).This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.