Rocking revisited 4: Analysis of rocking-induced stresses for concrete breakwater armour units

When a breakwater is under heavy wave attack, the concrete armour units will occasionally move, causing a collision between two concrete armour units. This process is called rocking, and induces stresses in the concrete, that may lead to breakage of the concrete armour units. This MSc Thesis provides a probabilistic method to predict breakage of...

Stability of the first row of an XblocPlus armour layer: A physical model study using Digital Displacement Analysis

XblocPlus is a new uniformly placed single layer armour unit, developed by Delta Marine Consultants (BAM Infraconsult). This report focuses on the stability of the first row of armour units, as this row is interlocked less than other rows. When the first row starts to slide, this is a big threat to the stability of the entire armour layer....

Granular open filter in rubble mound sand retaining structures: Physical model tests of a negative geometrically open filter layer

For the use of open filters in land reclamations new guidelines are needed as no research is currently done for the configuration of a sand layer is placed on top of a filter layer. This research focuses purely on the interaction between cyclic motions and the described sand-filter layer. A numerical OpenFOAM model is used to extract the order...

Design of the scour protection as part of the DELTA 21 project

Tolerable wave overtopping during construction of a breakwater

Wave overtopping is an important aspect for the design of rubble mound breakwaters. Acceptable overtopping limits are usually based on the mean overtopping discharge or the maximum overtopping volume (EurOtop, 2018). For temporary situations, such as breakwaters under construction, overtopping limits are not clearly defined. This complicates the...

Simulating wave penetration in an inlet using the numerical models SWAN and SWASH: Dimensioning of an inlet and the comparison of two numerical models

Near IJburg a new Island named Strandeiland is being build to create living area. On the eastern part of this island an inlet is situated. In this research the wave penetration in this inlet is simulated using the numerical models SWAN and SWASH. With the results of the simulations the verticall walls which surround the inlet are dimensioned....

Investigation of crown wall stability on top of rubble mound structures with OpenFOAM®

In the present study the stability of crown wall elements on top of a rubble mound breakwaters is investigated. The first step was conducting a literature review, in order to identify knowledge gaps. It was found that current design methods do not take the freeboard of the crown wall into account when calculating the vertical force acting on it....

Stability Optimisation of the top armour row of a breakwater with Xbloc^Plus units

The Xbloc^Plus (referred to as Xbloc+) is a new, uniformly placed single layer armour unit, developed by Delta Marine Consultants (BAM Infraconsult). Although a breakwater armour layer with Xbloc^Plus combines material saving and easy placement with increased stability, the transition between the armour layer and the crest is...

The relation between cobble revetments, sand and overtopping: A numerical approach with OpenFOAM®

OpenFOAM allowed the author to simulate a large number of scenarios in which the influences of cross-shore profile shape, cobble porosity, cobble diameter and layer thickness on wave overtopping were examined. Four validation runs and six simulations to map the sensitivity are compared with data from two physical experiments conducted in the...