Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU), NSF NHERI 2025: Measurements of Wave Characteristics for Debris Loading on Elevated Residential Structures

Debris loading experiments with various wave- current conditions were conducted in the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure (NHERI) Large Wave Flume at the O.H. Hinsdale Wave Research Laboratory (HWRL) at Oregon State University, in which researchers aimed to categorize and measure forces exerted by debris on a coastal elevated residential structure. Hundreds of trials were conducted, and this paper aims to validate wavemaker behaviors, analyze, and summarize wave measurements from eighty trials using data from six wave gauges. This data can be reused for computational and numerical models of these debris loading trials. This should allow more accurate modeling of coastal residential elevated structures and advance building standards. The unique aspect of this research is the collection of wave measurements on hundreds of debris loading trials with an elevated residential structure present in a wave flume. This project is geared towards researchers and civil engineers who can utilize this data for modeling purposes and who want to conduct future works in these areas.