Investigation of wave loads at the lee-side of a rubble mound breakwater head

Date

2023-9-8

Author

Sevindik, Cem

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It is well-known that head sections of the rubble mound breakwaters are more critical than trunk sections in terms of stability. The common practice is to use heavier armor layer units at the head sections of rubble mound breakwaters, especially at the lee-side of the head sections. However, the relation between the wave parameters and hydrodynamic loading at the lee-side of the head section has not been completely investigated. In the scope of this study, physical model experiments were conducted to observe the relation between the wave parameters and hydrodynamic loading at the lee-side of the head section of a rubble mound breakwater constructed using antifer units. The experiments were carried out at the Coastal and Ocean Engineering Laboratory of the METU Civil Engineering Department. The armor layer slope of the tested physical model was 1:1.5, and antifer units were placed on both the head and trunk sections of the breakwater. In the experiments, 8 different water depths, 13 different wave periods, and a single wave steepness value of 0.045 were considered. During the experiments, pressure measurements on the top face of a single antifer unit at the lee-side of the head section were carried out in addition to water surface elevation and particle velocity measurements at different locations along the wave flume and around the cross-section. According to the results, during the passage of a single wave, hydrodynamic loading on a single antifer unit changes remarkably depending on the presence and location of wave-breaking. It is observed that the pressure signal on the top face of the unit takes a double-peaked form rather than single-peaked with strong negative dynamic pressure values when the plunger breaks at an average circumferential distance of 1.08 unit width offshore and vertical distance of 0.61 unit width above. Furthermore, velocities significantly increase closer to the lee-side of the head section up to three times the undisturbed values.

Subject Keywords

Breakwater, Head, Lee-side, Wave load measurement, Signal processing

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/105403

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Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Thesis