Stability of Rubble Mound Breakwaters—A Study of the Notional Permeability Factor, Based on Physical Model Tests

The Van der Meer formulae for quarry rock armor stability are commonly used in breakwater design. The formulae describe the stability as a function of the wave characteristics, number of waves, front slope angle and rock material properties. The latter includes a so-called notional permeability factor characterizing the permeability of the structure. Based on armor stability model tests with three armor layer compositions, Van der Meer determined three values of the notional permeability. Based on numerical model results he added for a typical layer composition one more value. Based on physical model tests, the present paper provides notional permeability factors for seven layer compositions of which two correspond to the compositions tested by Van der Meer. The results of these two layer compositions are within the scatter of the results by Van der Meer. To help determination of the notional permeability for non-tested layer compositions, a simple empirical formula is presented.