Non-Hydrostatic Modelling of Coastal Flooding in Port Environments

Abstract

Understanding key flooding processes such as wave overtopping and overflow (i.e., water flows over a structure when the crest level of the structure is lower than the water level in front) is crucial for coastal management and coastal safety assessment. In port and harbour environments, waves are not only perpendicular to the coastal structure but also very oblique, with wavefronts almost perpendicular to the main infrastructures in the harbour docks. Propagation and wave–structure interaction of such perpendicular and (very) oblique waves need to be appropriately modelled to estimate wave overtopping properly. Overflow can also be critical for estimating flooding behind any coastal defence. In this study, such oblique and parallel waves (i.e., main wave direction is parallel to the structures) are modelled in a non-hydrostatic wave model and validated with physical model tests in the literature. On top, overflow is also modelled and validated using an existing empirical formula. The model gives convincing behaviours on the wave overtopping and overflow.