Research and Development
The BAW is the central technical and scientific governmental agency for research and development into the federal waterways that covers the areas of structural engineering, geotechnical engineering and hydraulic engineering in inland and coastal areas. Applied practical research carried out in the individual sections acts as an active interface between pure scientific research and practical application, providing decision-making support to ensure appropriate fulfillment of specific tasks for research into the federal waterways.
The research and development projects in hydraulic engineering provide above all the methods and procedures for optimizing the inland and coastal waterways, using innovative measurement and information technology (from measurement transducers to high-performance computers). A vertical range of R&D is warranted for mathematical and physical modelling. Among others, current projects are looking at issues of sediment management, technological developments in the field of navigation, hydraulic optimization of waterways structures, ecological continuity of waterways and measures for adapting the waterways to possible climate-related changes.
- Numerical modelling of bed forms (dunes) in inland waterways
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The potential and constraints of numerical modelling of bed forms (dunes) with bed load transport models is investigated. With the numerical programs used at BAW (Telemac3D, Sisyphe) dunes should be simulated directly (meaning without parameterisation) and through this the forecast ability of the models can be improved.
Project director: Goll, Annalena - Investigations concerning ship induced impacts on bed and bank
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The investigation concentrates on the flapping foil drive as a possible type of drive, which is expected to induce smaller impacts on beds and banks compared to conventional propellers. Therefore a flipping foil robot was constructed, on which the efficiency of the flapping foil drive in lentic and flowing water will be determined.
Project director: Söhngen Prof.-Dr. - Locatability of Fishways
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Central issue of efficient fishways is the locatability of the entrance for migratory fish. Objective of the project is to derive design criteria for the special boundary conditions at federal waterways, which ensure the generation of a significant guiding flow and thus lead migratory fish effectively into the fishway.
Project director: Kampke, Wolfgang - Research on the preparation or rather improvement of sediment continuity at the Iffezheim barrage
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The decrease of flow velocities upstream of barrages frequently causes recurring sedimentation which can lead to negative impacts on operation and safety. The aim of the project is to develop a reliable forecast tool for the planning of measures to reduce sedimentation rates.
Project director: Wahrheit-Lensing - Integration of multidimensional model in GBBSoft
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Compared to the current version of the bank design software GBBSoft, the two dimensional numerical model predicts the ship induced wave and velocities more accurate. The required stone size and revetment thickness will be computed from these values more precisely which will avoid the over- and underestimation of the revetment.
Project director: Doychev, Svetlana - Development of a simplified filling-emptying system for locks with water saving basins
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For locks with water saving basins, a filling-emptying system which is based on a pressure chamber beneath the lock chamber
has proved itself in practice. The inlet area leading to the pressure chamber is constructed with deep-set culverts to avoid
air-entrainment into the filling system. Within the scope of this research and development project a simplyfied filling system
is investigated, which abandons the culverts by directly filling the pressure chamber through a rotary segment gate.
Project director: Thorenz Dr., C. - Advancement of methods for analysis of simulation results
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The system performance of alluvial estuaries can be described using characteristic numbers (HW, LW, tidal range, etc.). Use of subgrid scale bathymetry in numerical models requires substantial modifications of the analysis methods. Furthermore the methods will be optimised and NetCDF will be used for data storage.
Project director: Lang Dr., Günther - Consideration of three-dimensional flow and transport phenomena in morphological models of inland waterways
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Three-dimensional flow models allow a better detection of morphological processes. Since the flow stress and the movement of bed particles are statistically distributed parameters, in context of the three-dimensional modeling also deterministic and stochastic methods are examined.
Project director: Wenka Dr., Thomas - Ship-induced sedimenttransport in tidal fairways
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In the context of the tidal sediment transport and the suspended load in the approach channels of the sea ports the percentage of the ship-induced transport became of interest. This has to be investigated within the task interaction between seagoing ship and tidal fairways.
Project director: Uliczka Dr., K. - Design of training walls and groins on ship-induced unsteady loadings at tidal fairways
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Using state of the art and state of the science no formulae were developed to design training walls and groins on the ship-induced unsteady loadings at tidal fairways. Due to this lack basic research projects are necessary for the lasting design of waterway constructions.
Project director: Uliczka Dr., K. - Extension of the ship handling simulator by the calculation of ship induced waves and improvement of the dynamic model.
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The increase of ship dimensions at constant fairways dimensions demands higher require-ments concerning the nautical competences of ship and ship pilot. For the evaluation of safety and efficiency of manoeuvring situations a ship navigation simulator is extended by high resolution dynamic model techniques.
Project director: Dettmann, Thorsten - Hydraulic dimensioning of fish pass facilities
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The hydraulic dimensioning of fish pass facilities is usually done simplified based on the maximum flow velocity and an average rate of energy dissipation disregarding their mutual influence. This influence is investigated by performing high-resolution flow velocity measurements, so that it can be taken into consideration during the design.
Project director: Weichert, Dr. - Improving efficiency of river hydrodynamical modelling with a combined multigrid and subgrid approach
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The project aim is the improvement of efficiency and accuracy of hydrodynamic river modelling while maintaining the correct representation of all relevant physical processes. For this purpose, a combination of the known multigrid methods and subgrid approach (Casulli, 2009) is to be developed and applied.
Project director: Patzwahl Dr., R. - MDI-DE
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German marine data infrastructure - MDI-DE
The MDI-DE is a network, in which Federal and State authorities bring their data and information together and make it accessible in a comprehensive national marine and coastal information system. The common portal platform is based on standardized Internet technologies with metadata and Web services.
Project director: Lehfeldt Dr., R. - Shiphandling Simulation of Cruise in Confined Waters
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The aim of the SFS-R project is to improve the precision of established models and approaches for manoeuvring in shallow and confined waters. Ship handling simulators have been developed in order to train students and nautical personal. Meanwhile they are regularly used to check the design of projected waterways or prove the trafficability of one.
Project director: Böttner Dr., C.-U. - Hydrodynamics of Ships in Shallow Waters
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The aim of the SHD-F project is to develop numerical mathematical approaches and methods to gain detailed knowledge of the dynamic movement of ocean going ships cruising in restricted waters. This modelling of ship hydrodynamics will serve to improve ship handling simulators when simulating cruise in restricted waters as well as to answer requests by the local authorities of waterways.
Project director: Böttner Dr., C.-U. - Adaptation and enhancement of Casulli algorithms for parallel computers with hardware acceleration as well as for capturing flow regime transitions by means of appropriate advection schemes
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The main aim of the project is to develop and apply new programming paradigms in high performance computing for the adaptation of the Casulli algorithms for coming parallel computer architectures with hardware acceleration. Additionally, the existing advection schemes should be adapted for all flow regimes.
Project director: Jankowski Dr., J. - KLIMZUG-Nord "Strategic adaptation approach to climate change in the Hamburg Metropolitan Region"
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KLIMZUG-NORD aims to develop techniques and methods for reducing climate impact and for adapting society and the economy to the increased risks of climate change in the Hamburg Metropolitan Region. The project takes an integral approach combining estuary management, urban development and nature conservation, among others.
Project director: Winkel Dr., N. - KLIWAS-K3
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Present and possible future situations including typical and extreme conditions are simulated. The area of interest covers the German North Sea, the estuaries and the Baltic Sea. The results are compared with characteristic data in order to evaluate climate change impacts on the coastal waterways.
Project director: Winkel Dr., N. - Adapted options for waterways engineering towards varied hydrological conditions due to climate changes
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The aim of the project is the identification and evaluation of potential hydraulic engineering and water management measures to guarantee a minimum flow depth in navigation channels during droughts, which possibly might occur with greater frequency and longer duration due to climate changes.
Project director: Schröder Dr., M. - Determination of the necessary fairway widths for safe and easy shipping
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Navigational models are used to investigate the minimum fairway widths for safe and easy shipping, also in terms of susceptibility to water levels, as well as the use of autopilots and improved information systems, in order to estimate the possibilities and limits of options for adapting to climate change.
Project director: Paprocki, Michael - Design and Construction of Inflatable Dams
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The project objectives consist in further development of the technology (optimizing the filling and emptying systems, automatic flow and water level control, hydraulic optimization, material requirements) together with compilation of a technical bulletin with the basic principles and requirements for hydraulic and structural design.
Project director: Gebhardt Dr., M. - Interaction sea-going ship / tidal fairway - dynamic of large ships
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The global development in container transport with high growth rates that were uninterrupted over a long period of time has resulted in the use of ever larger container ships. Meanwhile numerous container ships are in operation with a capacity between 8,000 TEU to 14,000 TEU. The aim of the project is to carry out specific studies to obtain the basic principles for the dynamic motion of these vessels under extremely shallow-water conditions in restricted tidal fairways (permission and design).
Project director: Uliczka Dr., K. - Investigating the forecasting ability of multi-dimensional bedload transport models for specific issues involved in river engineering
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The forecasting ability of multi-dimensional bedload transport models is to be verified and improved with reference to practical issues. Here the focus is on proving the applicability, limits and reliability of the models by verification and validation using suitable case studies.
Project director: Kopmann Dr., R. - Minimum clearance between ship and waterway bed to avoid stone damage
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When the bed of a waterway consists of coarse-grained material, which occurs for example in case of a coarse particle accumulation as an erosion protection measure, it is possible for stones to be sucked into ships’ propellers and cause corresponding damage. Investigating the reasons why stones are sucked up in this way is one of the main objectives of the project, as well as giving recommendations for permissible particle sizes.
Project director: Söhngen Prof.-Dr. - Waiting times at bottlenecks
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Possible waiting times at bottlenecks are ascertained, e.g. in the mountainous stretches of the river Rhine, in order to assess the general economic impact of shipping bottlenecks. To this end, shipping traffic, including overtaking and encounter manoeuvres, is modelled by using Monte Carlo simulations.
Project director: Söhngen Prof.-Dr. - Impact of the ship's propeller wash on channel beds
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Due to larger ship sizes with higher engine power channel bed and banks of inland waterways are attacked by the jet velocity of the stern screw more and more intensively. The purpose of this project is to improve existing or develop new methods for calculating the erosion caused by propeller wash and to provide better guidance in sizing riprap for bed and bank protection against propeller jet scour by experimental and numerical investigations.
Project director: Spitzer, Detlef - Impact of floodplain vegetation on high-water levels and bed stability in federal waterways
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The consideration of ecological objectives in the development and maintenance of federal waterways requires the reliable determination of the flow resistance due to floodplain vegetation so that the impact on high-water levels and bed stability can be ascertained in numerical models.
Project director: Schröder Dr., M. - Hydraulic effect of river control structures
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Although river control structures such as groynes and longitudinal training walls have been in use for a long time, there are still many open questions regarding their hydraulic and morphological effect. Up to now, there have only been restricted possibilities for physical or numerical modelling of the processes around groynes or behind longitudinal training walls. Field and studies with hydraulic models should help to eliminate know-how deficits.
Project director: Hentschel, Bernd - Optimizing the navigability of rivers
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A hydronumerical discharge model is coupled with a dynamic ship model to simulate the navigability of a river and calculate the navigability potential for the river. The results can be used as the basis for a bottleneck analysis in order to derive measures for optimizing the navigability.
Project director: Dettmann, Thorsten
