Optimized Coastal Defense: A Comparative Formal and Material Analysis of the Deployable Hypar Umbrella

Abstract

Climate change is one of the greatest challenges faced by the modern world, and it places a plethora of new demands on our societies, lifestyles, and infrastructure. One of its many demands is that for new coastal infrastructure, particularly defense structures to protect against the ever more severe, frequent, and destructive storm surges brought about by sea level rise. Conventional protective flood barriers have always been inefficiently designed, unattractive, and disruptive to coastal landscapes. In this era of increasing need for innovation, the proposed deployable hyperbolic paraboloid umbrella barrier offers a more sustainable, elegant, and structurally efficient alternative for coastal defense. This thesis investigates some of the unexplored areas of research pertaining to the hypar umbrella barrier. Through finite element analysis, it first compares the structural performance of the concrete hypar shell with that of the uncurved, analogous pyramidal shell under vertical dead and hydrostatic loading, and under different support conditions. The second half of this thesis concerns a proof-of-concept of a possible hypar umbrella barrier using alternative materials, steel and PET foam, which form a grid shell structure. These various studies conclude that the hypar is indeed a superior form to the pyramid under vertical dead loading and hydrostatic loading, under all realistic support conditions. In addition, while the second half shows that indeed, an alternative system of materials for the hypar proves to be possible, there are many parameters of the grid shell that have yet to be optimized. Some recommendations are put forth at the end of this thesis.