REAL: River, Estuary and Coastal resilient infrastructure testing flume

河流、沿海或海洋环境中的生命线基础设施——例如桥梁、水坝、防洪设施、港口、海上风力发电场等——受到水动力和岩土工程效应组合产生的复杂载荷制度的影响。河流或潮流和波浪可能引起结构负荷和沉积学和/或岩土学反应，最终可能导致严重的破坏或结构破坏。气候和基础设施使用模式的变化意味着潜在的两种或两种以上不稳定机制的复合效应正变得越来越复杂和难以预测。然而，尽管它们在生命线基础设施系统的弹性中发挥着关键作用，但这些复杂的相互作用在很大程度上仍未得到充分研究。因此，缺乏了解可能导致不必要的成本或重要基础设施的可预防故障。该项目的目的是开发REAL，这是一种新型的实验设备，通过实现全面的多现象测试，将彻底改变水下基础设施的研究。建造这一独特的设施将需要购买包括大型倾斜水槽、抽水和储存系统、波浪产生和吸收系统、沉积物补给系统、再循环和分离系统以及用于详细测量水流速度的仪器在内的设备。这些系统将完全集成和自动化，以前所未有的现实主义水平再现代表现实世界条件的场景。该设施的研究将为未来基础设施系统的设计和建造铺平道路，这些系统既具有弹性又具有成本效益。

Lifeline infrastructure - for example, bridges, dams, flood defences, ports, marine wind farms etc - in river, costal or marine environments is subjected to complex loading regimes arising through combinations of hydrodynamic and geotechnical effects. River or tidal currents and waves may induce structural loadings and sedimentological and / or geotechnical responses that can ultimately lead to severe damage or structural failure. Changing patterns of climate and infrastructure use mean that the compound effect of potentially two or more destabilising mechanisms is becoming increasingly complex and difficult to predict. However, despite their critical role in the resilience of lifeline infrastructure systems, these complex interactions remain largely under-researched. The resulting lack of understanding may lead to unnecessary costs or preventable failure of vital pieces of infrastructure. The aim of this project is to develop REAL, a novel experimental facility that will revolutionise research in submerged infrastructure by enabling comprehensive multi-phenomena testing. Creation of this unique facility will require the purchase of equipment comprising a large tilting flume, systems for water pumping and storage, wave generation and absorption, sediment feeding, recirculation and separation and instruments for detailed measurement of water velocities. These systems will be fully integrated and automated to reproduce scenarios representative of real-world conditions at unprecedented levels of realism. The research enabled by the facility will pave the way to novel approaches to the design and construction of future infrastructure systems that are both resilient and cost effective.