Decomposition and spectrum analysis of surge impact pressures on a vertical wall based on the Hilbert–Huang transform

Abstract

In this study, two individual dam-break induced surge impact pressure datasets are analyzed using the Hilbert–Huang transform method, which is capable of adaptively decomposing the impulsive, oscillatory, and quasi-steady pressure components from the measured raw pressure data. Time-frequency characteristics of these three pressure components are analyzed. Applying the empirical mode decomposition method, the intrinsic mode function (IMF) series extract the local periodic features, including the impulsive and oscillatory pressures, whereas the non-periodic residual series reveal the general variation characteristics of the surge impact pressure, i.e., the quasi-steady pressure. Subsequently, the Hilbert spectrum analysis is conducted to the individual IMF series. The impulsive pressure components are found to be high-frequency (over 5 Hz in this study), and the oscillatory pressure components have frequency ranging from 20 to 60 Hz. It is confirmed that the quasi-steady pressure contributes the dominant amount of the total surge impact energy in both the bottom impact zone and the upper outer zone on the wall. The impulsive pressure-induced instantaneous energy is large in the bottom impact zone shortly after the impact, whereas the oscillatory pressures only lead to a small local instantaneous energy peak. In addition, the impulsive pressure impulses are calculated, which are more test-stable than those of peak pressures. These findings indicate that impulsive pressures induced by surge impact can be rather destructive, especially near the toe of the structure, thus deserve particular attention in the safe design of coastal structures.