Riachuelo: Three Dimensional Computational Fluid Dynamics by Brian Davis

INTEGRATED ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS

I used IES as a more comprehensive testing of the effects of specific design elements on the hydrodynamics of the canal. IES is three dimensional and so allows me to consider the effect of the dredge pit, dredge trough, and settling basin at specified depths on the flow dynamics of the canal.

This allows me to get highly specific about effects of design elements on flow rate over time which correlates to sedimentation.

Limitations include not accounting for sediment in any way- IES is essentially testing air moving through a form. This is useful for understanding the effects in plan and section over time, but does not allow me to approximate sediment deposition in any way.

Sediment Deposition and Shoaling: Euler Method by Brian Davis

Matlab Scripting

I worked with Dr. Rosati, Director of the Coastal Inlets Research Program US Army Corps of Engineers, to adapt and apply this script to function as a sediment and shoaling calculator that can be localized along a given section of a navigable waterway.

This tool allows be to be highly specific about the amount of sedimentation that will occur in a given place over a specific period of time, as well as the amount of sediment that bypasses that specifc zone. This has enabled me to establish a dredging period for each of the main deposition points along the canal. The Euler method uses simple algorithmic scripting which accounts for change over time- sediment that is deposited effects the rate at which future sediment will be deposited.

Limitations to this tool include the inability to dealt with shape, both changes in shape of the channel as well as the effects on currents, such as the formation of helical currents around bencs in the channel.

Analog Model by Brian Davis

SHAPE CHANNEL MODEL

this model was developed to allow me to study pattern and shape. I built it to be changeable, with a number of pits, basins, flushing canals, and dredge pits built in, and I could add smaller elements such as wing dams and pole fields throughout the canal.

The results were surprising and instructive, showing the effectiveness of combining certain elements sch as clustering poles alongside wing dams to alter depositional patterns.

limitations of this tool are due primarily to the fact that sediment itself cannot be scaled. Additionally, it takes a long time- the model was approximately 6’ long and needed to be run for approximately 8 hours to get a good distribution of bed load sedimment.

Correlation Wheel by Brian Davis

This diagramming technique allows me to correlate different cyclical landscape processes through time. Each activity is indexed in the key and then played out across a year for a specific place. This allows me to zero on the specific activities and their relative levels of intensity at a given moment in time. This tecnique could be used for any activity and at any specified temporal scale. It enables the designer to attempt a landscape choreography in a specific way, and when tied to a spatial representation it makes clear the relations between objects and processes.

Limitations of this techniqe are that it is general- it assumes all activity occur along a similar rhythm and scale. For instance, this diagram shows that sedimentation and soccer games are occuring in a similar way, whereas sediment deposition is constant but soccer games are singular events occuring along a schedu