Project Spotlight
Martin Aquatic’s CFD Modeling Technology
Regularly investing in innovative applications, Martin Aquatic has made use of a new technology that accurately predicts the movement of water. Called Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), this computer simulation has helped refine our design process in a way unlike any other—proving our engineering plans in the model before any shovel hits the ground.
Simulating the Movement of Water
While CFD Modeling works by inputting various factors into a simulated body of water, the data that it provides isn’t immediately usable without fine-tuning the design. Martin Aquatic’s engineers use this tool throughout an iterative process to make the most ideal conditions. For lazy rivers, that can mean changing the location of thruster pumps or widening the channel to create an optimal surface velocity. For large bodies of water, that can mean moving main drains or introducing new inlet valves so that water is circulating and not stagnant. With so many variables, this process can go through dozens of iterations until the environment is just right. When the CFD model produces a precise visualization of how water behaves under an exact set of circumstances, we can ensure our clients that their aquatic feature is designed for optimal operability.
Engineering for Efficiency
One of the key benefits of CFD modeling is verifying that your design meets the “Goldilocks principle.” Over-engineering an aquatic project with too many thruster pumps, pipes, and drains would waste the client’s budget, while under-engineering the project without the necessary equipment to save on costs could create unsafe water conditions. As a validation of our CFD modeling technology, Martin Aquatic’s engineers created a real-world test to determine whether the computer simulation matched the water movement in the field for one of our newly constructed projects that was designed using CFD. To visualize the surface vectors of the water, we floated 750 rubber ducks down the lazy river and studied their paths. The results were even closer to the simulation than we could have predicted, further demonstrating the importance of modeling our designs using CFD technology.
The New Standard for Complex Pool Design
As the duck test proved, CFD modeling can accurately predict the way that water moves within complex aquatic features from lazy rivers to multi-acre basins. Whether we are creating an even, flowing river or ensuring that large bodies of water are properly filtered with no stagnant water, Martin Aquatic’s use of CFD modeling in our design process ensures the most pristine swimming environments for our clients.
Hear the team explain Martin Aquatic’s CFD process in our “What the Duck?” video.
