Researching Tsunami Debris Impact on Infrastructures

In the next set of episodes on DesignSafe Radio, we talk with tsunami engineer Mike Motley from the University of Washington. In an effort to predict debris loads on structures, he and his team are investigating tsunami debris flows from a statistical perspective. Motley calls it “embracing the chaos.” He is joined by his UW student team, Dakota Mascarenas and Abbey Serrone, and together they describe designing and conducting more than 410 individual experiments in the NHERI at OSU large wave flume.“We want to provide an approach to tsunami and other fluid-induced debris flows that will address critical needs of the engineering modeling community.” - Mike Motley, John R. Kiely Endowed Associate Professor at the University of WashingtonRelated Links: NHERI Coastal Wave/Surge and Tsunami Experimental Facility Tsunami Debris Experiments in the OSU Large Wave FlumeOrder from Chaos: A Statistical Approach to Predicting Tsunami Debris Flow