- UCAS course code
- H201
- UCAS institution code
- M20
Early clearing information
This course is available through clearing for home and international applicants
If you already have your exam results, meet the entry requirements, and are not holding an offer from a university or college, then you may be able to apply to this course.
Contact the admissions team
Master of Engineering (MEng)
MEng Civil Engineering
Society needs civil engineers now more than ever, and our courses are ranked Top Five in the UK (QS World Rankings, 2024).
Duration: 4 years
Year of entry: 2025
UCAS course code: H201 / Institution code: M20
- Key features:
Study abroad
Scholarships available
Field trips
Accredited course
- Typical A-level offer: AAA including specific subjects
- Typical contextual A-level offer: AAB including specific subjects
- Refugee/care-experienced offer: ABB including specific subjects
- Typical International Baccalaureate offer: 36 points overall with 6,6,6 at HL, including specific requirements
Course unit details:
Computational Hydraulics
| Unit code | CIVL42002 |
|---|---|
| Credit rating | 15 |
| Unit level | Level 4 |
| Teaching period(s) | Semester 2 |
| Available as a free choice unit? | No |
Overview
Part 1: The Finite-Volume Method - the dominant approach to fluid-flow simulation in general-purpose CFD codes. This section includes practical civil-engineering-type exercises with the major commercial code StarCCM+.
Part 2: Shallow-Water Flows - specialist CFD for civil engineering. Widely used in predicting river, estuarine and coastal flows.
Pre/co-requisites
| Unit title | Unit code | Requirement type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hydraulics 2 | CIVL20041 | Pre-Requisite | Compulsory |
| Hydraulics 1 | CIVL10101 | Pre-Requisite | Compulsory |
| Hydraulics 3 | CIVL34001 | Pre-Requisite | Compulsory |
Aims
- To introduce students to the numerical simulation of incompressible fluid flow.
- For students to understand and be able to choose and apply appropriate discretisation techniques for partial differential equations, particularly those describing fluid flow.
- To acquaint students with major in-house and commercial CFD (computational fluid dynamics) software and how to apply such software to typical civil-engineering problems, such as wind-loading, ventilation, pollution dispersion, coastal and estuarine flows.
Syllabus
Part 1: The Finite-Volume Method (Dr Apsley)
(1) Governing equations: conservative and non-conservative forms; some exact solutions; common approximations.
(2) Finite-volume techniques: discretisation of standard advection-diffusion problem; time-marching; pressure-correction methods; computer methods for solving matrix equations.
(3) Turbulence and its modelling: Reynolds averaging and Reynolds stresses; basic theory and log law; “industry-type” turbulence models.
(4) 3D geometric techniques (areas, volumes, averages) and presentation of 3D data.
(5) Use of in-house research code STREAM (1 exercise) and commercial code StarCCM+ (2 exercises) for industry-type problems (e.g. wind loading).
Part 2: Shallow-Water Flows (Dr Rogers)
(6) Shallow-water (depth-averaged) approximation and equations; specialist solution techniques.
(7) In-house software example (1 exercise).
Assessment methods
| Method | Weight |
|---|---|
| Written exam | 50% |
| Report | 50% |
Feedback methods
Individual feedback will be posted online after marking, with common problems summarised in class.
Exam - class summary in Blackboard
Study hours
| Scheduled activity hours | |
|---|---|
| eAssessment | 32 |
| Lectures | 34 |
| Tutorials | 6 |
| Independent study hours | |
|---|---|
| Independent study | 78 |
Teaching staff
| Staff member | Role |
|---|---|
| David Apsley | Unit coordinator |