Size matters – Experiments on wave-structure(-soil) interaction in the Large Wave Flume (Grosser Wellenkanal, GWK)

Date: 20.11.2020; UTC Time: 10:00 AM- 11:00 AM

The Large Wave Flume (Großer Wellenkanal, GWK) in Hannover, Germany is one of the largest wave flumes worldwide and in operation since 1983. It has been built in order to minimize the inherent scale effects of physical model experiments in the realm of coastal engineering. After almost 40 years and almost 200 projects GWK is currently undergoing a major upgrade in order to improve the testing capabilities and allow for the best possible reproduction of natural processes under well-defined laboratory conditions. GWK will be back in operation in September 2022 and with a new and more powerful wave maker, a current generation system with 20 m³/s and a staggered deep section (28 m x 2 m and 8 m X 6m) it will be prepared for the next decades of unique large scale physical model experiments. The presentation will give a brief introduction to scaling issues in experimental modelling, provide an overview of GWK, show some highlight projects concerned with wave-structure(-soil) interaction and eventually take an outlook on the experimental capabilities of the future.