Collaborative Research: Multi-Block System Response to Hydraulic Loads in Rock Scour

水力采摘冲刷是地貌演变中的一个基本过程，在这种过程中，大型的、合格的岩石块被流动的水流从裂隙岩体中侵蚀。这一过程还会影响与水相互作用的工程结构，如大坝和桥梁，并经常导致运营和安全问题，因为大量材料的侵蚀可能会危及结构基础和适用性。这项研究使用联合水槽和数值模拟来建立对水力拔毛机理的更全面的理解，这将为基础设施设计和修复提供参考。这种对失败治理模式的机械性理解将使确定最有效的设计或补救策略成为可能，也可以被纳入景观演变模型。探索采摘的多尺度和渐进性的系统方法将提供对实时危险分析和景观演变中应考虑的关键参数的见解。此外，作为这项研究的一部分开发的软件将以开放源码发布，以供研究人员和工程师使用。实验数据集还将存储在公共储存库中，以便更广泛地获得和访问。准确地预测剥离的可能性需要了解裂隙岩体或工程材料的不同性质如何与流过、绕过和流过它的流体的流动特性相互作用。这些特性的变化如何影响拔毛还没有完全了解，目前的冲刷评估方法也没有考虑到这一点，即使潜在的堆积效应可能会降低冲刷的门槛。这项研究将开发评估不同材料和流动特性之间的相互作用的能力，以便更全面地了解拔毛过程。这将通过一种配对的实验和数值方法来实现，该方法应用了比例水槽实验和离散单元和格子Boltzmann方法的数值模拟。这些能力将使冲刷评估方法摆脱经验主义，通过限制需要在基于物理的模型中进行简化假设的数量和程度来实现。从这项研究中获得的对潜在机制的理解和对多块-流体系统最关键特征的识别将为应用于工程结构的稳定性和补救的进一步研究以及对自然河道中基岩侵蚀率的描述提供信息。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。

Scour by hydraulic plucking is a fundamental process in landscape evolution where large, competent rock blocks are eroded from a fractured rock mass by flowing water. This process also affects engineered structures interacting with water, such as dams and bridges, and often leads to operational and safety concerns since erosion of large volumes of material can compromise structure foundations and serviceability. This research uses joint flume and numerical modeling to establish a more comprehensive understanding of the mechanics of hydraulic plucking, which will inform infrastructure design and remediation. This mechanistic understanding of the governing modes of failure will make it possible to identify the most efficient design or remediation strategy, and can also be incorporated into landscape evolution models. The systematic means by which the multi-scale and progressive nature of plucking is explored will provide insights into key parameters that should be considered in real-time hazard analysis and landscape evolution. Additionally, software developed as part of this research will be released open-source to make it available to researchers and engineers. The experimental data set will also be stored in a public repository to be more broadly available and accessible.Accurately predicting the likelihood of plucking requires an understanding of how different properties of the fractured rock mass or engineered material interplay with flow characteristics of the fluid flowing over, around, and through it. It is not fully understood how variation in these properties influence plucking, nor is it considered in present scour evaluation methods, even though the potential stacking of effects could lower the threshold for scour. This research will develop capabilities that assess the interaction between different material and flow properties in order to develop a more comprehensive understanding of the plucking process. This will be achieved through a paired experimental and numerical approach that applies scaled flume experiments and coupled Discrete Element and Lattice Boltzmann Method numerical simulations. These capabilities will enable scour assessment methods that move away from empiricism by limiting the number and extent of simplifying assumptions that need to be made in physics-based models. The understanding of the underlying mechanics gained from this research and identification of the most critical features of the multi block-fluid system will inform further research applied to stability and remediation of engineered structures, as well as descriptions of rates of bedrock erosion in natural channels.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.