modelling

BIONICS does not intend to concentrate on further model development, rather novelty will be derived in its application to climate change (using data on future climates not historical weather patterns) and its validation against high quality data derived from both the full-scale embankment and centrifuge modelling of that embankment.

Because of the short time-scale of this first project (compared to the lifetime of an embankment), the model will be further calibrated against data collected from scale models of the as-built embankment constructed in the centrifuge at Dundee. These tests will simulate the as-built long-term embankment performance without plant roots, before finally allowing for the plant roots using the skills developed in association with project GR/S43962/01 (looking at modelling the effects of roots on slope stability). Subsequently, the refined model will be run using data provided by the stakeholders from a small selection of typical embankments, and the possible impacts of different climate change scenarios will be explored through model simulations.