Numerical Study on the Hydrodynamic Characteristics of a Double-Row Floating Breakwater Composed of a Pontoon and an Airbag

Abstract

By adding a cylindrical airbag on the leeward side of a cuboid pontoon, a new-type double-row floating breakwater is designed to improve the wave attenuation performance, and its hydrodynamic characteristics are studied through numerical simulations. First, based on the smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) method, a numerical model used to simulate the interaction between waves and moored floating bodies is built. The fluid motion is governed by the Navier–Stokes equations. The motion of the floating body is computed according to Newton’s second law. The modified dynamic boundary condition is employed to treat the solid boundary. The lumped-mass method is adopted to implement the mooring system. Then, two physical model experiments on waves interaction with cuboid and dual cylindrical floating pontoons are reproduced. By comparing the experimental and numerical wave transmission coefficients, wave reflection coefficients, response amplitude operators and mooring force, the reliability of the numerical model is validated. Finally, the validated numerical model is applied to study the influence of separation distance and wave parameters on the hydrodynamic characteristics of the double-row floating breakwater. The results indicate that the optimal separation distance between pontoon and airbag is 0.75 times the wavelength. At such separation distance and within the concerned 1–4 m wave heights and 4–7 s wave periods, the pontoon-airbag system presents better wave attenuation performance than a single pontoon. This improvement weakens as wave height increases while it strengthens as the wave period increases. In addition, the double-row floating breakwater is more effective in a high-wave regime than in a low-wave regime. In the case of short waves, attention should be paid to the stability and mooring reliability of the seaward pontoon, while in the case of long waves, care needs to be taken of the leeward airbag.