Investigation of the Effects of Ship Induced Waves on the Littoral Zone with Field Measurements and CFD Modeling

Abstract

Waves induced by ship movement might be harmful for the habitat in the littoral zone of rivers due to the temporally increasing bed shear stress, the high-energy breaking waves and the consequently related detachment of benthic animals. In order to understand the complex hydrodynamic phenomena resulting from littoral waves, we present the testing of a novel methodology that incorporates field observations and numerical tools. The study is performed at a section of the Danube River in Hungary and analyzes the influence of different ship types. The field methods consist of parallel acoustic measurements (using Acoustic Doppler Velocimetry (ADV)) conducted at the riverbed and Large Scale Particle Image Velocimetry (LSPIV) of the water surface. ADV measurements provided near-bed flow velocities based on which the wave induced currents and local bed shear stress could be estimated. The LSPIV was able to quantify the dynamics of the breaking waves along the bank. Furthermore, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling was successfully applied to simulate the propagation and the breaking of littoral waves. The used techniques complement each other well and their joint application provides an adequate tool to support the improvement of riverine habitats.