Incorporating Rubble Mounds in CMS

CMS-Flow and CMS-Wave are two of the principal components of the Coastal Modeling System. Rubble mounds are an important part of some coastal modeling projects. They are a common engineering structure used as jetties, breakwaters, seawalls, and groins for shoreline protection as well as flow and sediment transport control.

The way rubble mounds are implemented in the Surface-water Modeling System (SMS) is different depending on which CMS model you pick. Rubble mounds in CMS-Flow simulations focus primarily on sediment transport and morphology changes, while CMS-Wave focuses on wave processes. Both of these CMS models have their own coverages and sets of requirements in order to add rubble mounds to the project.

Rubble mounds can be added to CMS-Flow simulations through the CMS-Flow Rubble Mound Jetties coverage. Once this coverage is added, you can create a polygon in the Graphics Window that represents the rubble mound. Double-clicking on the rubble mound polygon opens the Rubble Mound Jetty Attributes dialog where you can define the parameters of the rubble mound structure. This dialog includes inputs for the name, the rock diameter, the porosity, the base depth, and the calculation method. After defining all the parameters, the coverage is ready to be added to the CMS-Flow simulation. Finally, make sure that Calculate sediment transport is turned on in the Model Control , otherwise your rubble mound is just a random polygon that has no effect on the final simulation.

Rubble mounds in CMS-Wave simulations work a little differently than CMS-Flow. CMS-Wave doesn't have a specific rubble mound coverage like CMS-Flow does. Instead, rubble mounds are defined on a CMS-Wave structures coverage. This behaves somewhat similarly to materials coverages that you may be familiar with in other SMS models. Double-click the polygon representing the rubble mound to bring up the Assign Structure dialog. Then you'll add a structure with the green plus sign, select "Rubble-mound" from the structures dropdown, and then whether or not you want to modify the rubble mound by elevation. If you'd like, you have the option of customizing the color and texture SMS will use to fill your polygon structure to something that best suits your project.

CMS-Flow and CMS-Wave each require their own simulations, but you have the option to couple them using inline steering. This is a great option if you're building a comprehensive coastal model.

Head over to SMS and try out adding rubble mounds to your CMS project today!