Climate models point towards more frequent and intense coastal storms, resulting in flooding and thus loss of life and property. Traditional forms of coastal armor to mitigate storm surge effects (e.g. seawalls, dikes) have numerous adverse social and environmental consequences. In addition, flood barrier designs of today still mirror that from thousands of years ago – that is – using massive amounts of material to resist or dampen the destructive forces of waves and floodwaters. A radical rethinking of traditional civil infrastructure for coastal hazard defense is needed for more sustainable and elegant solutions. The last 100 years have demonstrated that thin-shell forms, which rely on geometrical curvature instead of ‘brute mass’, are very effective and efficient at resisting large forces. Thin-shell coastal structures that are designed to resist hydrodynamic loading, are aesthetic, and have co-benefits, inspired the general concept of “Aquatectural Engineering”.
An innovative structural system, Kinetic Umbrellas, is presented as a countermeasure against storm surge. “Umbrellas” consist of a hyperbolic paraboloid (hypar) thin-shell supported by a column. The typical concept of this umbrella is modified to incorporate a hinge at the neck, allowing the umbrella to tilt from its initial upright position. When simultaneously deployed in a row, the Kinetic Umbrella shells effectively act as a physical barrier to storm surge induced coastal inundation. The seminar presents hydrostatic and hydrodynamic parametric studies on Kinetic Umbrellas using variables such as geometry and load (e.g. inundation level, wave height, etc). A case study for a beach in NJ during Hurricane Sandy is presented. The studies thus far show that Kinetic Umbrellas are a feasible and attractive alternative to traditional coastal defense measures.
Maria E. Moreyra Garlock is a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and also the co-director of the Architecture and Engineering Program. Before entering academia, she was a practicing engineer, working as a structural designer in New York City. Her research develops creative and innovative approaches for designing structures to resist extreme loading scenarios such as earthquakes, fires, and ocean waves. She also researches the best examples of structural designs of the present and past, and she is a passionate advocate for integrating the humanities in engineering education. Her scholarship on the designs of Felix Candela, structural artist of the 20th century, has inspired a new line of research on material efficient geometric forms to resist coastal flooding (aquatecture) as will be presented in this seminar.