Assessment of the influence of permeable pile groins on nearshore hydraulics

One of the most economically and ecologically important issues related to coastal engineering is the preservation of the coastal areas. The mean to do so, is the good understanding of the sediment transport mechanisms that are involved in the transformation of coasts. In order to protect these valuable areas, man-made structures have been...

Design method for multi-functional artificial reefs in a coastal environment

Natural reefs are important habitats for a wide range of species. Furthermore, they attenuate waves and thereby protect the leeside, functioning as coastal protection. Many reefs are however eroding or degraded, leading to a loss of these ecosystem services. Artificial reefs can reverse this negative trend. The artificial reefs in this context...

Tide-induced currents in a phase-resolving wave model

Alongshore currents are currents parallel to the coastline. In coastal areas they are driven by a combination of wave and tidal forcing. In this study, the validity of the non-hydrostatic, wave-flow model SWASH to predict these currents is investigated. This is done by comparing model predictions with measurement observations. Observations were...

Cross-shore Velocity Moments in the Nearshore: Validating SWASH

The cross-shore sediment transport is of great importance in the coastal water since it may lead to significant change of coastal profile. Many researches have proved that the sediment transport is proportional to velocity moments. In this study, the velocity moments under wave action in the perpendicular direction to the coastline are studied...

Numerical modelling of wave penetration in ports

Wave climates in ports can determine the efficiency of port operations to a large extent, so good predictions of them are important. This thesis therefore focusses on the modelling of wave penetration in ports, using several numerical models as well as a physical model. The goal is to compare numerical wave models for the use of wave penetration...

A combination of SWASH and Harberth to compute wave forces on moored ships

Moored vessels are subject to wave forces and moments at different frequencies, which induce motions of the body and can be transferred to the mooring lines and fenders. Under extreme forcing and vessel motions, dangerous line breaking accidents can occur or the ship movements can be simply too large to continue the on/off-loading process,...

Numerical study of regular and irregular wave interaction with vertical breakwaters

In this study regular and irregular waves are simulated with a numerical model. The aim of this study is to perform a numerical investigation into the reflection and transmission of the different waves forcing in a porous breakwaters. There are different types of numerical models available for solving the behaviour of waves in coastal regions...

Overtopping over a real rubble mound breakwater calculated with SWASH

The main goal of this project is to verify the numerical model SWASH when dealing with overtopping prediction by comparison of full scale measurement results to results of numerical model testing. For that purpose, the harbour in Zeebrugge (Belgium) has been considered; there, several storm events have been measured in a rubble mound breakwater...

Resistance of submerged groynes

Groynes are commonly used in the major rivers in the Netherlands. They confine the flow of the river to a main channel but also act as resistance element once submerged and in that way influence the stage discharge relationship of the river. Several formulas exist describing groynes as a drag resistance. Another possible way of determining their...

Numerical and experimental research of wave interaction with a porous breakwater

The design formula for rubble mound breakwaters by Van der Meer has an unclear Notional Permeability term. This term causes a lot of confusion for designers. In the past many people have tried to derive a better formulation for that term by experimental and analytical research. The goal of this study was to obtain a better formulation along a...

Modelling the anisotropy of turbulence with the SWASH model: Heterogeneous roughness conditions in open channel flows

In this study the focus is on modelling turbulence anisotropy in open channel flows with the SWASH model. Turbulence anisotropy significantly influences the flow features of: channel flows with heterogeneous roughness conditions, curved open channel flows, compound channel flows with different floodplain depths, etc. The SWASH model is a non...

Numerical modelling of infragravity waves in coastal regions

Infragravity waves are a common feature in the nearshore wave field and have a significant impact on numerous coastal processes. It is therefore important to accurately predict infragravity wave conditions at a given location. However, analytical relations do not exist with which to make such predictions and one has to rely on numerical models....