Numerical modelling of flow depths and velocities at the crest of a rubble mound breakwater using OpenFOAM®

Breakwaters are built in coastal zones to alter sediment transport, or protect threatened habitats and port facilities. The rising sea level is causing more water to overtop these structures. Increasing amounts of overtopping discharge can compromise the security of people, or equipment standing on the crest of breakwaters. The overtopping flow...

Climate Adaptation of Rubble Mound Breakwaters: A study to the accuracy of overtopping formulas for combination of solutions

Rubble mound structures are often constructed to prevent severe wave damage to ships. By constructing the crest at a certain level, the waves are reduced such that safety is ensured. However, a large increase in sea level rise is expected in the next century due to climate change. Because of this, multiple adaptations might be necessary to meet...

Numerical estimation of wave loads on crest walls on top of rubble mound breakwaters using OpenFOAM

The design of hydraulic structures like breakwaters and crest walls is often based on empirical formulations, physical models test, numerical models and a fair amount of expert judgement. Each technique has its own pros and cons. The main limitation of the empirical formulas is that often they have to be applied outside their range of validity....

Homogeneous detached composite breakwater: CFD study of the design sensitivities in the 2D geometrical layout using a detached homogeneous low-crested structure to reduce sea wall overtopping

In this research OpenFOAM is used to model and determine the complex hydrodynamic behaviour of a Homogeneous low-crested structure (HLCS) consisting of cubipod artificial concrete elements. The validated model is used to gain insight in the design sensitivities of a two dimensional cross sectional layout to reduce sea wall overtopping. HLCS and...

An efficient numerical approach to model wave overtopping of rubble mound breakwaters

Worldwide, rubble mound breakwaters are designed and built to shelter and protect coastal areas from overtopping and flooding, especially harbours and shorelines. Rubble mound breakwaters are essential to preserve desired hydraulic conditions within the hinterland, avoiding damage to inhabited or industrial areas. This research focuses on the...

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...

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...

Numerical investigation of the effect of nappe non-aeration on caisson sliding force during Tsunami breakwater over-topping using OpenFOAM

During the 2011 Great East Japan Tsunami, the world’s deepest breakwaters in Kamaishi and Ofunato, which had been designed to reduce tsunami damage, partially failed after over-topping. The failure was due to a combination of sliding, over-topping induced foundation scour and foundation bearing capacity failure. Hindcasting this failure required...

Stability analysis of XblocPlus crest element

In the past humans used to protect their shores mainly with rocks. In the past decades the shore protections did gently shift to concrete element protections. An example of an often applied concrete armour unit is the Xbloc. This element is quite strong and well investigated. BAM Infraconsult has developed a uniformly placed armor unit, the...

Effect of Nappe Non-aeration on Caisson Sliding Force during Tsunami Breakwater Overtopping

The sliding force was a contributing factor to the displacement of caissons from the Kamaishi composite breakwater during the Great East Japan tsunami 2011 (Arikawa et al., 2012). The pressure reduction on the landward wall of the caisson due to non-aeration of the overflowing jet gives rise to an additional horizontal force which increases the...