Experimental Study of Wave Impact Forces on Pervious Pipe Breakwaters

Abstract

In this study, the wave impact on highly- pervious pipe breakwaters is investigated by a physical experiment conducted in a 21-m wave flume, with a combination of pre positively placed pervious pipe obstacles and an impermeable embankment. The wave impact force on the protected coastal structures were effectively mitigated and attenuated. The process of wave impact is very complicated; involving strongly nonlinearity and transient effects, and the effect of wave impact is one of the important factors on the safety and/or destructions of coastal structures. This study addresses highly pervious dense pipe with small apertures, which can be beneficial for convection and interchange of seawater within the harbor district, and furthermore, perform effectively in wave absorption. The problems of random wave impact on the highly pervious perpendicular pipe obstacles were also investigated. Physical experiments were carried out with regular and irregular waves under various conditions. The results showed that, a pervious pipe obstacles placed vertically in the front of an impermeable embankment can effectively mitigate and attenuated the wave impact.