Hydraulic Structures

• Experimental investigation of flow patterns in hydraulic infrastructure (e.g. flood retention basins, outlet and inlet structures, hydropower plants, locks)
• Optimisation of hydraulic structures and development of new hydraulic concepts

Hydraulics and morphodynamics of near-natural watercourses

• Vegetation hydraulics, resistance behaviour of vegetation
• Consideration of bedload balance (locally and at catchment level)
• Analysis of morphological potential, field studies

Watercourse development measures

• Development of measures to improve watercourse structure at local level (focus: restricted reaches)
• Abiotics and biotics: river habitats
• Deadwood transport in rivers
• Ecological connectivity of rivers: Upstream and downstream migration of fish

Multiphase flows in hydraulic engineering

• Flows of density-stratified fluids
• Oxygen input in standing and flowing waters
• Mobilisation, flocculation and sedimentation of suspended matter (reservoir sedimentation)
• Fluvial transport and retention of plastics in rivers
• Inception and development of air-water flows

Simulation of hydraulic structures

• Application of one- and multi-dimensional hydrodynamic-numerical (HN) methods for the analysis of complex flow conditions (steady-state, transient)
• Development and implementation of application-oriented HN methods for use in practice
• Extensive pre- and post-processing

GIS technologies

• Creation of digital terrain models under consideration of hydraulic requirements
• Determination of inundation areas as well as damage potentials in endangered areas
• Programming of application-optimized tools (GIS shells)
• 3D visualization (animation / real-time navigation)
   

Flood management

• GIS-based hydraulic river basin modelling
• Quantification of the effects of construction measures on flood discharge
• Risk assessment and damage potential analyses
• Creation of hazard and risk maps as a basis for flood prevention
• Real-time simulation
• Development of decision support systems (DSS) for operational use in water management (incl. training and support of users)

Numerical models for the simulation of flow processes

• Analysis and optimisation of hydraulic engineering structures in the context of structure rehabilitation and design (e.g. hydropower plants, weirs, withdrawal/return structures)
• Optimised operation of barrages with regard to power generation, flood protection, navigation
• Coupling of HN processes with automation technology; optimisation of water balance controllers
• Application of hybrid or coupled model technology in cooperation with physical modelling

Solids transport / eco-hydraulics

• Multidimensional simulation of solids transport in rivers, lakes and hydraulic structures
• Morphodynamic analysis and prognosis studies
• Simulation of technical and near-natural fishways as a basis for fish ecological assessments
• Flow analyses in the context of watercourse renaturation and revitalization
• Analysis and (further) development of near-natural flowing waters

Cross-platform use of hardware and software

• CAD, GIS, simulation and visualisation systems
• Software development / use of modern development environments
• Linux / Windows
• System administration
• Computer-aided measurement technology

Under construction

• Universitat de Valencia
• Cardiff University
• The University of Manchester
• Delft University of Technology
• Penn State University, USA
• Deltares, The Netherlands
• Utah Water Research Laboratory, USA
• IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, The Netherlands
• Bundesanstalt für Wasserbau, Germany
• ETHZurich, Switzerland