Optimized modelling on lateral separation of twin pontoon-net floating breakwater

Abstract

Since the attribute of wave energy transmission is susceptible to lateral separation (S/D) between twin pontoons of floating breakwater, employing improper S/D may cause ineffective attenuation in the amount of wave energy. This paper presents a numerical optimization modelling aimed at obtaining the optimum S/D through Genetic Algorithm (GA) approach. The artificial intelligence is primarily employed to minimize transmission of wave energy coefficients ( ) whereas maximize energy dissipation coefficient ( ). To achieve such demand, a numerical simulation implementing a MATLAB code as an interface between the Genetic Algorithm and a CFD program is applied. Several parameters for the effects of various wavelengths and ratios of S/D including a set of criteria have been considered in the simulation, where the optimum solution is chosen from various populations. The results demonstrated that the current GA analysis is efficient that can search a global trade-offs between  and  to determine an optimum S/D. The  was minimized to less than 0.3 as compared to existing model ( ) while maximizing  to greater than 0.95. Hence, the optimisation algorithm can serve as a useful engineering tool for a conceptual design to determine an optimum S/D for twin pontoons of floating breakwater.