Author(s): Chen Haoliang; Chan Eng Soon; Lin Pengzhi
Linked Author(s): Chan Eng Soon
Keywords: Vegetation; Wave height reduction; Tsunami wave
Abstract: This paper presents an investigation of the vegetation effect on coastal wave propagation and tsunami wave runup process using both experimental method and numerical modeling. In experiments, the vegetation is represented by solid mental rods. The bulk drag force coefficient and inertial force coefficient are obtained through the measured wave forces on the rods and the velocity information. The calculated coefficients are used in the numerical model to simulate the wave deformation within vegetated region. This numerical model adopts the concepts of Volume of Fluid to capture the free surface evolution and two-step projection method to solve the volume-averaged RANS equations. The computed wave height distribution along the vegetation region agrees quite well with the experimental data. The numerical results of tsunami wave runup over vegetated slope improve our understanding on the vegetation effect to reduce the tsunami impact on coastal environment and human livings through an ecological approach.
Year: 2011