Invitation at the International Conference on Scour and Erosion

Initiated by the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE), the International Conferences on Scour and Erosion (ICSE) have become respected events in the technical conference calendar for engineers, scientists, decision makers and administrators providing services in the areas of scour and erosion.

Stéphane Fischer, founder of UBERTONE, will give a conference entitled "Evaluation of a High Resolution Acoustic Profiler for Hydraulic Erosion Studies"

Abstract :

The study of hydraulic erosion needs detailed measurements of flow and sediment transport. The ultrasonic velocity profiler (UVP) is one of the most efficient tools in hydraulic research and studies. It is useful in assessing the main velocity field through many measurement cells (profile) and the interpretation of backscattered echoes at different frequencies can lead to the concentration of suspended particles. This intensity profile can also be used to detect interfaces. Ultrasonic techniques are widely used in environmental and industrial flows due to their non-intrusive nature and their ability to work with opaque fluids.

Measurements with a new acoustic profiler has been carried out to evaluate its capabilities in hydraulic erosion studies. The ultrasonic profiler UB-flow F156 is a scientific instrument for field and laboratory studies that allow high resolution (down to 2.5 mm and 20 ms) measurements of velocity and acoustic turbidity profiles in severe environmental and industrial conditions. The system is fully integrated in a hydrodynamic probe connected by Ethernet. It is equipped with two transducers for measurements over a wide frequency range. This allows to match selectively particles of size going from 10 µm to 1 mm. Results show that the instrument can follow the erosion in the bed or bank of the stream channel. The evolution of the velocity profile and the acoustic turbidity profile can be observed simultaneously in order to study transient phenomenons involved in the sediment transport.