Coastal Engineering at Oxford University

Research into coastal processes includes the modelling of surf-zone hydrodynamics, pollutant dispersion and sediment transport in the nearshore environment. This work involves collaboration with Imperial College London, Strathclyde University, Manchester University, University College London, and the University of Cantabria. Novel mathematical formulations have been derived for the governing flow hydrodynamics, species transport and wave climate equations, including a new hyperbolic system of shallow water equations that naturally balance flux gradient and source terms. Advanced adaptive-grid numerical solvers have been developed and extensively validated, leading to an improved understanding of mixing processes in the nearshore environment. Theoretical work is underway on the three-dimensional structure of wave-induced longshore and rip currents in the vicinity of typical rhythmic beach profiles. To complement this, detailed experimental measurements have been obtained of the wave climate and wave-induced currents near a multi-cusped beach in the EPSRC UK Coastal Research Facility (UKCRF) at Wallingford. Information about the velocity distribution in the vertical through a rip current and a meandering longshore current, including undertow, has been obtained for the first time. Dr A G L Borthwick is Chairman of the UK Coastal Research Facility User Group. The UKCRF is a wave basin of horizontal dimensions 27 m (cross-shore) by 36 m (alongshore), with a working area of 20 m by 15 m. Waves are generated using a 72-paddle wave-maker and periodic lateral flow conditions simulated using a recirculating flow system. Further details on the UKCRF are available at http://www.hrwallingford.co.uk/facilities/crf. If you are interested in applied coastal research in general, a very useful international perspective is given at http://www.coastal.udel.edu/coastal.html. Quadtree grid generator source code and a typical data file are freely available (as part of EPSRC grants GR/11861 and GR/11854 jointly with Strathclyde University), and can be downloaded from source code and data files. Details of on-going Coastal Engineering Projects are available.