Wave steepness and relative width: Influence on transmission coefficient of horizontal interlaced, multilayered, moored floating pipe breakwater with five layers

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a series of physical model scale experiments conducted to determine the transmission characteristics of a horizontal interlaced, multilayered, moored floating pipe breakwater. The studies are conducted on physical breakwater models having five layers of PVC pipes. The wave steepness (H i/gT 2, where H i is incident wave height, g is acceleration due to gravity, and T is time period) was varied between 0.063 and 0.849, relative width (W/L, where W is width of breakwater and L is the wavelength) was varied between 0.4 and 2.65, and relative spacing (S/D, where S is horizontal centre to centre spacing of pipes and D is the diameter of pipes) was set equal to 2. The transmitted wave height is measured, and the gathered data are analyzed by plotting nondimensional graphs depicting the variation of K t (transmission coefficient) with Hi/gT 2 for values of d/W (d is depth of water) and of K t with W/L for values of H i /d. It is observed that K t decreases as H i /gT 2 increases for the range of d/W between 0.082 and 0.139. It is also observed that K t decreases with an increase in W/L values for the range of H i /d from 0.06 to 0.40. The maximum wave attenuation achieved with the present breakwater configuration is 78%.