Granular filters for marine structures: Knowledge generation for filter stability analysis and design

• Applicant: Professor Dr.-Ing. Hocine Oumeraci
• Subject Area: Geotechnics, Hydraulic Engineering
• Term: from 2013 to 2018
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 234582040

Granular filters are applied for marine structures, including bank protection and protection against sea bed scour. These filters are required to prevent underlying soil layers from being washed out through the pore structure of the protective layers. Due to the lack of missing basic knowledge on hydraulic filter stability, the failures of marine structures have often been caused by the failure of filters. One of the biggest challenges is the determination of the hydraulic stability of granular filter subject to perpendicular oscillatory flow. The overall goal of the proposed research is therefore the development of scientific knowledge for filter design. For this purpose, the proposed theoretical/numerical and experimental investigations are aimed at: (i) determination of hydro-geotechnical processes (ii) description of hydraulic gradient, pore pressure and shear stress inducing incipient motion and transport of base and filter material (iii) development of prediction formulae for the hydraulic stability of granular filter subject to wave loads.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants