Internship Allowable wave overtopping for Human Safety

Royal HaskoningDHV is currently at the forefront of developing a climate resilience masterplan and formulating adaptive measures for integrated coastal protection along Singapore’s City-East Coast. The objective is to safeguard both the population and critical infrastructure from flooding. Integral to this design is the close proximity of people to the seawater, raising critical questions about human safety under varying adaptation scenarios.

The challenge lies in understanding human safety concerning flow velocity and water depth at the crest of a coastal structure. Existing theoretical frameworks provide some insights, but empirical relations for estimation remain limited. To bridge this gap, we are exploring the potential of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models like CoastalFOAM. The aim is to establish a robust relationship between velocity and water depth at the crest under different conditions and different representative designs, thereby enhancing our understanding of human safety in coastal environments.

Thesis subject:

The Resilience and Maritime department is looking for a motivated MSc-thesis student with an interest in wave-structure interaction and numerical modelling. This research will focus on understanding the relationship between velocity and water depth at the crest for different conditions, utilizing our in-house CFD modeling tool, CoastlFOAM. The study will involve creating representative cross-sections and establishing boundary conditions based on the unique context of the Singapore City-East Coast project.

Even though every thesis is unique, there are multiple reference theses available:

• An efficient numerical approach to model wave overtopping of rubble mound breakwaters, Marco Moretto 2020, Delft University of Technology
• Hydrodynamic modelling of wave overtopping over a block-covered dike, Luc Barendse 2021, University of Twente
• Numerical estimation of wave loads on crest walls on top of rubble mound breakwaters using OpenFOAM, Marisol Irias Mata, 2021 Delft University of Technology
• Numerical estimation of upward pressure differences over a placed block revetment under wave loading on a dike, Martijn van Heest, 2023 Delft University of Technology

Where you will work

Royal HaskoningDHV is a worldwide independent engineering, project management and consultancy firm which integrates 140 years of engineering expertise with digital technologies and software solutions. Our 6,000 colleagues are working from offices in more than 25 countries across the world. Through our mission Enhancing Society Together, we take responsibility for having a positive impact on the world. During your thesis you will be part of the Resilience and Maritime team and will be mostly working with the CoastalFOAM model in combination with Matlab.

Resilience and Maritime department is a group of 250 people consisting of consultants, engineers and numerical modelers. The group works on a wide variety of projects with topics such as flood protection, climate resilience, port design, dredging works and many more. It is a young and enthusiastic group willing to go the extra step to revolutionize the current way of working. A large part of the group is based in Rotterdam and Amersfoort.

What you bring

Requirements:

• Currently a MSc student, having a technical background. For example: Hydraulic Engineering specialization (e.g. Coastal Engineering) or Physics
• Interested in numerical modelling
• Experience with Matlab and/or Python
• Loves a challenge and does not get frustrated when things do not work the first time
• Likes to be part of a team and prefers the office environment above working from home
• Be a relatively sociable person who doesn’t mind to sometimes join one of our many social activities

What we offer you

During your internship at Royal HaskoningDHV you will learn what it is like to work in a consultancy firm and more specific the kind of projects implemented by the advisory group Resilience & Maritime. You will be fully part of the team and as such you are invited to participate in all team activities both project related and social activities.

You will also receive a monthly allowance.