Wave action on rubble mound breakwaters: The problem of scale effects

Wave action on rubble mound breakwaters: The problem of scale effects

Tirindelli, M.
Lamberti, A.

Paphitis, D.
Collins, M.
Vidal, C.
Hawkins, S.
Moschella, P.
Burcharth, H.
Sanchez-Arcilla, A.

TU Delft

Delos

2004-02-02

The present report, produced within the framework of the EU funded project DELOS, attempts to recognise and analyse main scale effects in the physical modeHing of rubble mound breakwaters used in offshore and coastal engineering. Scale effects appear in physical modeHing because the ratios between the farces of interest, as present in prototype, cannot be maintained in a scaled model. The report is by no means intended to resolve the problems associated with scale effects, given the complexity of this issue. However this discussion provides a preliminary understanding of these effects. Respect to the aforementioned objectives, the present report is structured as foHows. The properties of sea water are summarised in Section 2. Section 3 provides a brief overview of sealing rules used in hydraulic physical modeHing. Section 4 is dedicated to surface tension effects on breakers. Section 5 deals with the complex problem of sealing air content from prototype sea water to model fresh water. A general overview of main scale effects in relation to the different processes associated to the interaction between waves and rubble mound breakwaters is presented in Section 6. Sealing of movable-bed models are addressed in Section 7. The effects of marine organisms on water and mound units are described in Section 8. In Section 9 conclusions are drawn, which summarise the main points worth consiclering when addressing the problem of scale effects in wave-related models with rubble mound breakwaters. Selected issues are further discussed in the attached appendices. Example of the Hydrodynamics at Pellestrina. Example of the sediment budget at Lido de Pellestrina.

low crested structures
rubble mound breakwaters
scale effects
model tests

TPG110140
TLJ800100

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:379ac067-9986-4461-9160-70c30e5e737a

University of Bologna

Delos report D52

Hydraulic Engineering Reports

report

(c) 2004 Authors