Numerical modelling and its physical modelling support in Civil Engineering

José Simão Antunes Do Carmo

doi:10.33448/rsd-v9i10.8409

Abstract

Currently, there is a progressive divestment of some institutions with strong traditions and skills in physical modelling and their consequent impoverishment, to the detriment of numerical modelling. For many reasons, the economic imperatives and the exponential growth of computational means and numerical methods should certainly not be excluded. In this work, the author aimed to highlight the new requirements of the recent sophisticated developments in physical modelling, precisely due to the new needs imposed on them by mathematical and numerical modelling and the growing risks in civil construction works. In this context, reflections are reported, justified by scientific and real-world examples, on the need for maintenance and reinforcement of investments in physical modelling, both to support the scientific community and to design buildings of significant economic, social and environmental impact.

Highlights

Model studies can be useful for academic and scientific purposes and to explain a project to stakeholders and the public in real-world applications
Currently, there is a progressive divestment of some institutions with strong traditions and skills in physical modelling and their consequent impoverishment, to the detriment of numerical modelling
The author aimed to highlight the new requirements of the recent sophisticated developments in physical modelling, precisely due to the new needs imposed on them by mathematical and numerical modelling and the growing risks in civil construction works

Summary

Introduction

Model studies can be useful for academic and scientific purposes and to explain a project to stakeholders and the public in real-world applications. Physical modelling allows us to confirm theoretical results, analyse different details of a project and test a wide variety of environmental and extreme conditions (Coastal Wiki, 2020) Another field in which physical modelling plays an essential role, by allowing us to calibrate and validate parametric formulations, is the scour process around bridge piles. Today’s automated data acquisition and analysis systems, fast processing and increased data storage capabilities provide significant uses for the validation of numerical models (World Register of Introduced Marine Species, 2020). In this context, physical modelling has been fundamental for the study of processes related to turbulent phenomena, allowing for the validation of current turbulence models, e.g., the two-equation models k-ε, RNG k-ε and k-ω (Gao et al, 2017). The numerical model is used to provide input to the physical model which provides its output as input to the same or another numerical model

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