Physical and Numerical Investigations on Wave Run-Up and Dissipation under Breakwater with Fence Revetment

Abstract

Revetment elements and protective facilities on a breakwater can effectively weaken the impact of waves. In order to resist storm surges, there is a plan to build a breakwater on the northern shore of Meizhou Bay in Putian City, China. To better design it, considering different environmental conditions, physical and numerical experiments were carried out to accurately study the effects of the breakwater and its auxiliary structures on wave propagation. In the experiments, the influence of the wave type, initial water depth, and the structure of the fence plate are considered. The wave run-up and dissipation, the wave overtopping volume, and the structure stability are analyzed. The results indicate that the breakwater can effectively resist the wave impact, reduce the wave run-up and overtopping, and protect the rear buildings. In addition, under the same still water depth and significant wave height, the amount of overtopped water under regular waves is larger than that under irregular waves. With the increase of the still water depth and significant wave height, the overtopped water increases, which means that when the storm surge occurs, damage on the breakwater under the high tide level is greater than that under the low tide level. Besides, the fence plate can effectively dissipate energy and reduce the overtopping volume by generating eddy current in the cavity. Considering the stability and the energy dissipation capacity of the fence plate, it is suggested that a gap ratio of 50% is reasonable.