Wave Induced Loading and Stability of Rubble Mound Breakwaters

Tue Hald

    Research output: PhD thesis

    879 Downloads (Pure)

    Abstract

    The present state of knowledge when designing coastal structures has improved in the recent years. However the available design methods concerning especially rubble mound structures are characterized by a number of empirical and semi-empirical formulae making model tests inevitable and even when conducting model tests very large variability in e.g. the degree of stability is observed. This background motivated the investigations conducted in the present study. The objective was to investigate and clarify which wave parameters are important for the hydraulic stability of the armour layer on typical rubble mound breakwaters. Furthermore, it was intended to quantify the influence on the stability of each parameter. Focus was put on the wave induced loading on single armour stones and the relation to the stability. Based on existing literature the state of physical understanding of the processes related to the hydraulic stability was discussed. Further, governing parameters influencing the stability were identified and their influence quantified to retrieve the state- of-the-art. Model tests were conducted at SINTEF with scale models of prototype breakwaters and both the wave induced loading and the stability were investigated. At Aalborg University model tests with an idealized model of a rubble mound breakwater were conducted and formed the basis for a detailed parametric investigation of the wave induced loading. Based on analyses of the experimental data wave-force models were derived containing the direct influence of the investigated parameters on the wave induced forces. Comparison with results of stability investigations and commonly used stability formulae show good correlation with simple stability formulae based upon the derived force models.
    Original languageEnglish
    Place of PublicationAalborg
    Publisher
    Publication statusPublished - 1998

    Keywords

    • Breakwaters
    • Rubble Mound Breakwaters
    • Breakwater Failure Models
    • Waves
    • Wave Loadings
    • Wave Loads
    • Permeability
    • Stability
    • Design of Breakwaters
    • Wave Group Analysis
    • Hilbert Transform Technique

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