Hydraulics of natural systems

Students will gain knowledge of advanced mathematical tools as well as of lab and field experimental results for studying the motion of fluids in the different contexts in which they exist in nature. The focus is, in particular, on fluvial hydraulics, on debris flows and on maritime hydraulics, both in fixed and movable bed conditions.

The topics represent also fundamentals for addressing some SDGs from the 2030 Agenda, namely:

GOAL 6: Clean water and sanitation

6.3 Improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimizing release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater and substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse globally.

6.6 Protect and restore water-related ecosystems, including mountains, forests, wetlands, rivers, aquifers, and lakes.

GOAL 11: Sustainable cities and communities

11.B Substantially increase the number of cities and human settlements adopting and implementing integrated policies and plans towards inclusion, resource efficiency, mitigation and adaptation to climate change, resilience to disasters, and develop and implement, in line with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, holistic disaster risk management at all levels.

GOAL 13: Climate action

13.1 Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters in all countries

13.2 Integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies and planning

GOAL 14: Life below water

14.5 Conserve at least 10 per cent of coastal and marine areas, consistent with national and international law and based on the best available scientific information

Knowledge and Comprehension and relevant Application

Upon completion of the course, students will have acquired the theoretical and technical-practical knowledge necessary to address, in a professional context, the topics covered in the course (more specifically, design and operation practical problems involving land use and engineering works, with particular reference to fluvial and maritime environment and to some hydrogeological risks and environmental protection) and, where necessary, to further develop their knowledge of these subjects.

Making Judgements

The knowledge acquired will enable students to develop the critical tools and significant degree of autonomy in judgement required to identify the effects of engineering interventions on hydraulic natural systems and on anthropic communities in general, in order to find the most appropriate solutions to the problems they are called upon to address.

Communication Skills

Students will be able to use the technical language specific to the disciplines covered and to communicate problems and their solutions clearly and effectively, as well as to present their work with confidence in public.

Learning Skills

Students will develop the ability to independently update their knowledge, starting from what they learned, through autonomous consultation of technical and scientific sources, legislation, regulations, and relevant sector-specific guidelines.

Class lessons are held; for each topic, problems relating to practical engineering applications are solved by the students, under the guide and with the assistance of the teacher. 

Basic hydraulics knowledge is requested, with particular reference to general fluid kinematics and dynamics, and to uniform and steady open channel flow. 

Class attendance is strongly recommended, coherently with the proposed educational model, aiming to promote a gradual learning, the active participation of students in class and the communication between the teacher and the students. 

A list of main topics follows.
The river system. Uniform, steady and unsteady open channel flow. Incipient motion and sediment transport. Resistance to flow in movable-bed channels. Water-sediment interaction: fluvial morphodynamics. Debris and mud flow. Principles of oceanography. Regular waves and their transformations. Irregular waves. Short-term and long-term statistical analysis. Wave design parameters. Surf zone hydrodynamics. Coastal processes. 

The final examination includes both theory and applied questions.
Two in progress written tests are held, each of them covering approximately 50% of the course content, consisting of 10 questions for each test (5 theory questions and 5 applied problems); each question can have a maximum score equal to 3. If a student passes both tests (each with a minimum score of 18/30), he/she will have the possibility of accessing a final oral exam, with a minimum score equal to the average of the scores obtained in the two in progress tests.

Uniform, steady and unsteady flow in compound and composite open channels. Steady flow profiles in natural streams. Bridge piers effects on the open channel flow and on movable river bed. Incipient motion criteria. Most used formulae to compute bed load and suspended load. Resistance to flow in natural streams. Rheological models for debris and mud flows. Linear theory of the monochromatic wave: the velocity potential, wave celerity, pressure and velocity. Shoaling, refraction, breaking. Short-term analysis of wave motion. Design wave computation. One-line models for shoreline evolution.