Glass Flood Defences

Glass Flood Defences: A theoretical and practical assessment of the impact resistance of Glass Flood Defences to floating debris

van der Meer, Roos (TU Delft Civil Engineering and Geosciences)

Nijsse, R. (mentor)
Veer, F.A. (mentor)
Molenaar, W.F. (mentor)
Staphorsius, John (mentor)
Lenting, Fred (mentor)

Delft University of Technology

Civil Engineering | Structural Engineering

2018-11-15

In the far south of the Netherlands, the erratic river Meuse flows through the landscape. It recently flooded twice in the 1990s, causing much economical damage. Emergency measures, such as a demountable flood wall, were taken to prevent future flooding. And while this solution was to the liking of the inhabitants, the update in the flood safety standard called for a more permanent structure. In the search for an alternative and permanent solution, a glass flood wall was suggested.

Nowadays there are not many examples of glass used in a flood defence in Dutch practice, and certainly not as part of a primary flood defence. It can be classified as an innovation, from which little is known from a structural safety perspective. Glass is used globally to retain water in numerous applications such as aquaria, under water glazing, glass bottom boats, etc; therefore water pressure is not seen as a high risk to the glass. What happens when floating debris hits the glass structure? Impact on glass can result in immediate failure, where the water retaining function could be lost. This thesis aims to answer this question, by theory and later on by impact experiments in a dry setting.

Glass
Flood Defence
Impact
Floating debris
Glass structures
Experiment
FEM
River

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:dca3dbc8-2b74-4904-ba89-084cdb97ff64

Student theses

master thesis

© 2018 Roos van der Meer