Damage variations on trunk and head of low-crested breakwaters
Date
2014
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
The spatial variation of damage on the different sections of the trunk and head of a low-crested stone structure on a fixed bottom is examined using the cross-shore numerical model CSHORE extended to oblique waves. The computed wave transmission coefficient and damage on the front slope, back slope and total section of the trunk are compared with available data consisting of 188 tests. Similarity of trunk and head damage for a low-crested breakwater is proposed to predict damage on the front head and back head using the cross-shore model. The agreement is mostly within a factor of 2 but the model overpredicts damage on the back head of a submerged structure. An experiment was conducted in a wave flume for a low-crested stone structure located inside the surf zone on a sand beach. The model is shown to reproduce the measured cross-shore wave transformation on the beach without and with the structure as well as the measured small damage on the structure. Sand deposition inside the porous structure will need to be accounted for to predict toe scour and accretion.