Author(s): M. P. Herrera; J. Molines; V. Pardo; M. E. Gomez-Martin; J. A. Gonzalez-Escriva; J. R. Medina
Linked Author(s): Maria Esther Gomez-Martin, Jorge Molines Llodrá, Josep Ramón Medina Folgado, JOSE A. GONZALEZ-ESCRIVA
Keywords: Breaking conditions; Mound breakwater; Foreshore slope
Abstract: Most breakwaters are constructed in depth-limited conditions. Preliminary design methods by practitioners are routinely based on the use of empirical formulas obtained from small-scale tests in non-breaking conditions; the design wave height is substituted by the maximum or the significant wave height at the toe of the structure. To estimate incident wave height in depth-limited conditions and wave breaking on the foreshore, Goda’s method and other procedures can be used. However, the available methods as described in the literature are not fully valid to determine design wave height as they do not consider wave reflection on the breakwater structure. Wave reflection affects not only the breaking process but also the wave action on the structure. In order to determine the influence of the breaking process on the breakwater armor and toe berm stability, small-scale tests were carried out in the wave flume of the Laboratory of Ports and Coasts at the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia. Test data were compared for two foreshore slopes (s=2% and 10% ) with and without structure. The breaking point is significantly different for gentle and steep foreshores and consequently the armor damage changes.
Year: 2014