Parvin, S. and Chandler, I. and McGovern, D. (2026) Digital twin development of dual tsunami generator: numerical modeling coupled with physical system for prototype advancement. In: CoastLab 2026 (10th Conference on Physical Modelling in Coastal Engineering and Science), 23-27 February 2026, Chennai, India. (Submitted)
Full text not available from this repository.Abstract
Recreating real-world tsunami events at laboratory scale requires not only the generation of the initial impact and inundation but also an accurate representation of the return flow — a critical part of the tsunami cycle. In our experimental setup[1, 2], an upstream pneumatic generator initiates the wave, simulating tsunami impact and inland flooding. A downstream generator absorbs the incoming flow and subsequently re-releases it to simulate the return phase (Figure 1). This coordinated “ping-pong” operation enables the upstream tank to recapture the flow and trigger repeatable wave trains. This study presents the numerical modeling and digital twin development of the TsuTWIN system, involving dual pneumatic tanks. The generators operate by modulating internal air pressure to displace water and create Froude-scaled tsunami waves. A novel custom pressure boundary condition is developed to couple air inflow (via a control valve) and air outflow (via a vacuum pump), capturing the dynamic air–water interaction. The model incorporates both compressible and incompressible air dynamics and is implemented within a CFD framework using the compressibleInterFoam solver in OpenFOAM. It is validated using experimental data from the MAKEWAVES dual-generator setup [3]. Simulation results show good agreement with measured water heights and wave profiles. This work provides a validated, physically informed digital twin framework for pneumatic tsunami generators, supporting advanced control, reproducibility, and future automation in tsunami research and wave simulation.
| Item Type: | Conference or Workshop Item (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Pneumatic tsunami generator, Digital twin, TsuTWIN system, Air–water interaction, Numerical modeling, Custom boundary condition, Tsunami return flow, CFD simulation, Experimental validation |
| Subjects: | Coasts > General Maritime > General |
| Divisions: | Coastal Maritime |
| Depositing User: | Helen Stevenson |
| Date Deposited: | 11 Feb 2026 10:59 |
| Last Modified: | 11 Feb 2026 10:59 |
| URI: | http://eprints.hrwallingford.com/id/eprint/1726 |
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