Environnemental Hydraulics Laboratory LHE

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Welcome on the LHE website.

Environmental Hydraulics Laboratory

Le Laboratoire d'Hydraulique Environnementale (LHE, environmental hydraulics laboratory) is a laboratory of the Civil Engineering Institute (IIC) of the school of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering (ENAC)


Mission

The Environmental Hydraulics Laboratory (Laboratoire d'Hydraulique Environnementale, LHE) is a laboratory within the Civil Engineering Institute of the School of Natural, Architectural and Constructed Environmental Sciences (Faculté Environnement Naturel, Architectural et Construit) (ENAC).


Scientific activities and applications

The LHE is a laboratory of environmental fluid mechanics whose research strives toward a better understanding of hydraulic processes in the environment, with particular emphasis on the problems encountered in the Alps. Le laboratoire also investigates how scientific knowledge is incorporated into land-use planning policies. The field of research covered within the LHE includes the following topics:
  • Dynamics of free-surface flows on steep slopes, with the objective of modeling natural hazards induced by water such as mudflows and avalanches.
  • Physics of bed load transport, aiming at better management of sediments in waterways.
  • Hydrodynamics of waterways, with the objective of studying free surface flow to better understand dynamic, transport phenomena within rivers including floods and dambreak waves (in mountain areas).
  • Scientific models and risk management, with the objective of providing decision makers with scientific tools related to land use planning and natural hazard mitigation in mountain areas.


LHE in pictures

  • Sediment transport

    Torrential hydraulics

    Field investigation of bedload transport in the Navisence river (Val d Anniviers, VS) with CREALP (Dr E. Bardou) and the university of Jaèn (prof. P. Bohorquez).

  • La Sionne

    Powder snow avalanches

    Dynamics of powder snow avalanches (Vallée de la Sionne, VS) with SLF (Dr B. Sovilla) and the University of Durham (prof. J. McElwaine).

  • PIV-laser flow visualization

    Dam break problem

    PIV experiments to measure velocity profiles within granular suspension flows.

  • Sediment transport

    Particule flow

    Idealized sediment transport experiments.

  • Rheometry of suspensions

    Suspension rheology

    Couette cell and rheometric investigations of granular suspensions.

  • viscoplastic fluid avalanche.

    Viscoplastic flow

    Avalanche of a viscoplastic gel on a sloping bed

  • PTV in a shear cell.

    Particle segregation

    Experimental investigation of particle segregation with the University of Manchester (prof. J.M.N.T. Gray).

  • Impulse wave Grindelwald 2009 (Tages Anzeiger).

    Impulse wave

    Experimental and numerical investigation of impulse waves generated by snow avalanches with the university of Ancona (prof. M. Brocchini)

  • Montroc avalanche Feb. 1999.

    Scientific models and natural hazard mitigation

    Can we predict catastrophes? How can scientific expertise assist decision-makers in land use planning?


In memoriam

in memoriamOn 28 Jan 2012, Gaël Epely-Chauvin , PhD student in our laboratory, passed away in a diving accident just after he started exploring the "sources de la Chaudanne" (FR). Gaël was a shooting star, who lights up our lifes when passing overhead. .

LHE News

Field of expertise of LHE

  • Geophysical fluid mechanics
  • Snow avalanches
  • Torrential hydraulics
  • Risk management (in mountain areas)
  • Rheology of suspensions
  • Particulate flows

Contacts

Laboratoire d'Hydraulique Environnementale (LHE)

EPFL-ENAC-LHE
Station 18
CH-1015 Lausanne
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Tél: +41 (0) 21 693 32 75
Fax: +41 (0) 21 693 67 67

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