Characterization of Carbon Dioxide on Icy Moons: Laboratory Ice Analogues and JWST Observations

Mixed ices of carbon dioxide (CO₂) and water (H₂O), prevalent in cometary nuclei, solar system satellites, and interstellar dust particles, have posed a persistent challenge in understanding the fundamental behaviors of carbon dioxide in these icy environments. Specifically, the intriguing shift in the CO₂...

Comparison of the Geomechanical behavior of sandstones from different reservoirs in northern Europe and North Sea

Following the 2015 Paris Agreement, many countries are switching from fossil fuel to a more renewable energy supply. However, the CO$_2$ concentration in the atmosphere keeps increasing which makes difficult to accelerate the transition to a net-zero emission. In 2020, a new record of CO$_2$ concentration at 412.5 ppm was achieved, the highest...

Streamlining river groynes: Laboratory experimentsin schematised geometry under submerged flow conditions

Groynes are hydraulic structures commonly applied in the Dutch rivers. Depending on the water depth, groynes can be emerged or submerged. When a groyne is emerged, it has two main functions: maintaining the water depth in the main channel and preventing the river from eroding its bank. When the discharge in the river increases, the groynes...

Redifining infiltration drywell design: A study on design and functioning in theory as in practice

This research is aimed at creating a generic design method for infiltration drywells on sandy soils by acquiring knowledge on the functioning of these wells. Infiltration drywells are vertical infiltration pipes that are installed above the groundwater table and through which stormwater is drained to the subsurface. Infiltration drywells can...

Near-bed flow behaviour in scour holes under laterally non-uniform flow conditions

Recent research identified a novel scour-enhancing flow mechanism related to 3-D flow behaviour. Under specific conditions, vertical flow separation at the upstream crest of a scour hole can be suppressed as a result of lateral nonuniformities in the main flow. This so-called vertically attached flow state is associated with increased scour...

Tsunami induced failure of bridges: Determining failure modes with the use of SPH-modeling

Recent major tsunami events generated by earthquakes inundated coastal cities and caused extreme destruction and loss of human lives. The collapse of coastal bridges due to tsunami wave impact represents a huge obstacle for rescue works. The need to understand tsunami effects and develop tsunami-resilient bridges became apparent in the aftermath...

Thin Glass Cold Bent Sandwich Panel

From the beginning of the 21st century, thin glass has been used as a screen protector for electronic devices and smartphones. During the last 10 years, several studies have been carried out to introduce the thin glass in the building industry. The advantages of this material are light weight, high strength and high flexibility. On the other...

Heat Exchange in Tensile Fractures: an Experimental and Numerical Approach

Geothermal energy is a relatively sustainable energy source of which the essence is to extract heat from hot subsurface rocks. Circulating fluids serve as the transport agent of heat. The contact area between the fluids and the rocks is where the relevant heat transfer occurs, i.e., where the water is heated up. In some geothermal reservoirs,...

Porcupines for river training: A study on the near-field effect of porcupines

Braiding rivers are characterised as highly dynamic, and experience annual morphological changes in plan- form. This dynamic nature of the river leads to navigational hindrance and risk of unstable bifurcation points where discharge distributions might switch. In pilot studies, porcupines have shown promising results in re- tarding the flow and...

Experimental research on channel closure in braided rivers

The dynamic nature of braided rivers can lead to river bank erosion, bankline shifts and navigational hindrance. River training measures can be implemented in order to mitigate these problems. An alternative to conventional river training works is the closure of a channel within the braided network. Until recent there has been no systematic...

Sand closures: A study towards the morphology under mixing layers using laboratory experiments and a numerical model

Dams are an essential part of the Dutch flood defence works to protect the hinterland from flooding by the sea. Sand closures are the construction of closure dams with sand as the main building material. The rising and falling tide generates a current through the closure gap, which increases in strength as the gap becomes smaller. This current...

Riverbank protection removal to enhance bar formation for habitat diversity

Over the past centuries natural riverbanks have been transformed into banks with artificial revetments or sheet piles to protect them from erosion, which led to disappearance of important river features for flora and fauna. River restoration projects show that the removal of man-made bank protections may lead to the formation of bars (e.g. Van...