Tsunami: Reducing the Impact

Overview

Objectives/Goals The objective was to find out which of four barrier designs would be most effective in reducing the impact of a tsunami wave on land. Methods/Materials Testing was done by constructing a wave tank and placing the different barriers into the tank. To keep them from floating away, they were screwed into the tank. A tsunami was then created by dumping a 5 gallon bucket of water from the opposite shore and measuring the distance the wave traveled inland. I also tested the distance the wave traveled without a barrier. Each barrier was tested two ways: underwater and at sealevel. Each barrier was tested three times each, except Barrier #4 broke beyond repair after the first test. After each tsunami wave, the distance was recorded in inches with a ruler that was taped to the base of the waterline, measuring upshore. Results The results showed that Barrier #2 was the best for both the sea level and underwater tests. Barrier #4 was the worst, having broken during the first test. Conclusions/Discussion My hypothesis was incorrect. I thought that Barrier #3 would be the best for reducing the impact of the tsunami. Barrier #2 was the best. Although Barrier #2 was the best in reduing the impact of the tsunami on the land, I would like to see Barrier #1 used in the real world because it would allow sea life to return to the sea as well as diminishing the impact on the shoreline.

Competition history

• CSEF 2013 Applied Mechanics & Structures · Entry J0313

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

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