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Interaction between Waves and Maritime Structures

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A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Oceans and Coastal Zones".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2020) | Viewed by 48326

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Mariano Buccino

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Guest Editor

Department of Civil, University of Naples “Federico II”, Naples, Italy
Interests: wave energy converters; wave energy assessment; wave–structure interaction; physical modelling; numerical simulations
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Luca Martinelli

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Department ICEA, University of Padoa, Padua, Italy
Interests: wave–structure interaction, with particular focus on the impulsive loads applied by breaking waves; research and development of floating breakwaters and wave energy converters, including their mooring system; coastal flooding risk, coastal erosion, and the relative mitigation measures
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue addresses the theoretical and experimental studies on the interaction between waves and maritime structures, such as ports (e.g., vertical, composite, and floating and rubble mound breakwaters), coastal defenses (e.g., revetments, groins, low crested structures, and dunes), or innovative designs fostering the sustainable development of the maritime environment (including wave energy converters).

The wave structure interaction encompasses phenomena from a medium (e.g., port wave penetration, wave induced circulations, and run-up on beaches) to local scale (e.g., wave transmission and reflection, overtopping, wave run-up, and quasi-static and impact loads). Investigations on the stability of the structures in relation to the wave action, dynamics of moored floaters, and geotechnical aspects related to maritime structures, are fully consistent with the scopes of the Issue.

This call welcomes theoretical analyses, case studies, physical and numerical model investigations, and simplified and practical approaches to improve the state-of-art on the complex world of the maritime structure design, highlighting possible routes for reducing uncertainties and risks. Studies with clear practical fallouts and specific design guidelines are encouraged.

Prof. Dr. Mariano Buccino
Prof. Dr. Luca Martinelli
Guest Editors

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Water is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

waves
maritime structures
hydraulic response
structural response
physical modeling
numerical modeling
case study
design equations and guidelines

Published Papers (14 papers)

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Editorial

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6 pages, 224 KiB

Open AccessEditorial

Interaction between Waves and Maritime Structures

by Mariano Buccino and Luca Martinelli

Water 2020, 12(12), 3472; https://doi.org/10.3390/w12123472 - 10 Dec 2020

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1597

Abstract

Understanding the interaction between waves and maritime structures (IWMS) has been a primary concern for humans since ancient times, when they started sailing oceans and defending land from flooding and erosion [...] Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Interaction between Waves and Maritime Structures)

Research

Jump to: Editorial, Other

22 pages, 11053 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Medium-Term Study of Molise Coast Evolution Based on the One-Line Equation and “Equivalent Wave” Concept

by Mariano Buccino, Gianluigi Di Paola, Margherita C. Ciccaglione, Giuseppe Del Giudice and Carmen M. Rosskopf

Water 2020, 12(10), 2831; https://doi.org/10.3390/w12102831 - 12 Oct 2020

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 1964

Abstract

The Molise region (southern Italy) fronts the Adriatic Sea for nearly 36 km and has been suffering from erosion since the mid-20th century. In this article, an in-depth analysis has been conducted in the time-frame 2004–2016, with the purpose of discussing the most recent shoreline evolution trends and individuating the climate forcings that best correlate with them. The results of the study show that an intense erosion process took place between 2011 and 2016, both at the northern and southern parts of the coast. This shoreline retreat is at a large extent a downdrift effect of hard protection systems. Both the direct observation of the coast and numerical simulations, performed with the software GENESIS, indicate that the shoreline response is significantly influenced by wave attacks from approximately 10° N; however, the bimodality that characterizes the Molise coast wave climate may have played an important role in the beach dynamics, especially where structural systems alternate to unprotected shore segments. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Interaction between Waves and Maritime Structures)

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20 pages, 8082 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Roll Motion of a Water Filled Floating Cylinder—Additional Experimental Verification

by Roman Gabl, Thomas Davey and David M. Ingram

Water 2020, 12(8), 2219; https://doi.org/10.3390/w12082219 - 06 Aug 2020

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2922

Abstract

Understanding the behaviour of water filled bodies is important from an applied engineering perspective when understanding the sea-keeping performance of certain floating platforms and vessels. Even by assuming that the deformation is negligible small in relation to the motion of the structure, these fluid-structure-fluid interactions are challenging to model, both physically and numerically, and there is a notable lack of reference data sets and studies to support the validation of this work. Most of the existing information is highly specific to certain hulls forms, or is limited to small motions. A previous study addressed this by modelling a floating cylinder (giving a more generic case) with roll and pitch motions in excess of 20°. The presented experiment expands on that work to further investigate the previously observed switch between pitch and roll in the cylinder under wave action as induced by the sloshing of the internal water volume. An additional experimental investigation, focused on a single draft, was conducted to test open research questions from the previous study. Here we show that the roll response of the water filled cylinder is repeatable, independent of the tank position and wave amplitude, provided the observation time is long enough to capture the fully developed motion response of the floating object. The mooring system used comprised four soft lines connected on two points on the cylinder. This arrangement resulted in slightly different restoring forces in different wave directions. A relative change of the wave direction by 90° led to a larger wave frequency band in which the roll motion occurred. These cases were, again, also conducted with the solid ballast. Both sets of data provide an interesting validation case for future work on water ballast inside a floating object. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Interaction between Waves and Maritime Structures)

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13 pages, 5397 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Experimental Evidence of the Influence of Recurves on Wave Loads at Vertical Seawalls

by Dimitris Stagonas, Rajendran Ravindar, Venkatachalam Sriram and Stefan Schimmels

Water 2020, 12(3), 889; https://doi.org/10.3390/w12030889 - 21 Mar 2020

Cited by 23 | Viewed by 5977

Abstract

The role of recurves on top of seawalls in reducing overtopping has been previously shown but their influence in the distribution and magnitude of wave-induced pressures and forces on the seawall remains largely unexplored. This paper deals with the effects of different recurve geometries on the loads acting on the vertical wall. Three geometries with different arc lengths, or extremity angles (α_e), were investigated in large-scale physical model tests with regular waves, resulting in a range of pulsating (non-breaking waves) to impulsive (breaking waves) conditions at the structure. As the waves hit the seawall, the up-rushing flow is deflected seawards by the recurve and eventually, re-enters the underlying water column and interacts with the next incoming wave. The re-entering water mass is, intuitively, expected to alter the incident waves but it was found that the recurve shape does not affect wave heights significantly. For purely pulsating conditions, the influence of α_e on peak pressures and forces was also negligible. In marked contrast, the mean of the maximum impulsive pressure and force peaks increased, even by a factor of more than two, with the extremity angle. While there is no clear relation between the shape of the recurve and the mean peak pressures and forces, interestingly the mean of the 10% highest forces increases gradually with α_e and this effect becomes more pronounced with increasing impact intensity. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Interaction between Waves and Maritime Structures)

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29 pages, 8660 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Two-Dimensional Free-Surface Flow Modeling for Wave-Structure Interactions and Induced Motions of Floating Bodies

by Der-Chang Lo, Keh-Han Wang and Tai-Wen Hsu

Water 2020, 12(2), 543; https://doi.org/10.3390/w12020543 - 15 Feb 2020

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 4056

Abstract

In this study, the level set (LS) and immersed boundary (IB) methods were integrated into a Navier–Stokes equation two-phase flow solver, to investigate wave-structure interactions and induced motions of floating bodies in two dimensions. The movement of an interfacial boundary of two fluids, even with severe free-surface deformation, is tracked by using the level set method, while an immersed object inside a fluid domain is treated by the IB method. Both approaches can be implemented by solving the Navier–Stokes equations for viscous laminar flows with embedded objects in fluids. For accurate treatment of the solid–liquid phase, appropriate source terms as forcing functions to take into account the hydrodynamic effects on the body boundaries are added into the governing equations. The integrated compact interfacial tracking techniques between the interfaces of gas–liquid phase and the solid–liquid phase allow the use of a combined Eulerian Cartesian and Lagrangian grid system. Problems related to the fluid-structure interactions and induced motions of a floating body, such as (a) a dam-break wave over a dry bed; (b) a dam-break wave over either a submerged semicircular or rectangular cylinder; (c) wave decomposition process over a trapezoid breakwater; (d) a free-falling wedge into a water body; and (e) wave packet interacting with a floating body are selected to test the model performance. For all cases, the computed results are found to agree reasonably well with published experimental data and numerical solutions. For the case of modeling wave decomposition process, improved solutions are obtained. The detailed features of flow phenomena described by the physical variables of velocity, pressure and vorticity are presented and discussed. The present two-phase flow model is proved to have the advantage of simulating the cases with induced severe interfacial oscillations and coupled gas (or air) motions where the single-phase model may miss the contributions of the air motions on the interfaces. Additionally, the proposed method with uses of the LS and IB methods is demonstrated to be able to achieve the reliable predictions of complex flow fields. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Interaction between Waves and Maritime Structures)

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16 pages, 8669 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Flooding of Piazza San Marco (Venice): Physical Model Tests to Evaluate the Overtopping Discharge

by Piero Ruol, Chiara Favaretto, Matteo Volpato and Luca Martinelli

Water 2020, 12(2), 427; https://doi.org/10.3390/w12020427 - 05 Feb 2020

Cited by 16 | Viewed by 4673

Abstract

This paper aims at evaluating the wave overtopping discharge over the pavement of “Piazza S. Marco” (Venice) in order to select the best option to mitigate the risk of flooding of the Piazza and to protect the monuments and historic buildings, e.g., the “Basilica S. Marco”. In fact, the MO.S.E. (MOdulo Sperimentale Elettromeccanico) system is designed to keep the water level below a certain value, for the safety of the lagoon, but it does not guarantee the defence of the Piazza, where flooding is still possible, being its pavement locally much lower than the maximum expected water level. To completely defend the Piazza, specific additional works are planned to prevent the back-flow through the natural drainage system (now the primary pathway) or by filtration or by overtopping. This paper investigates on the overtopping mechanism, under conditions compatible with a fully operational MO.S.E. system, through 2-D experiments. The pavement of the Piazza is gently sloping towards the masonry quay which, in some parts is formed by 5 descending steps, and in some other parts, is just a vertical wall. Close to the “Marciana” Library, a critical part is present, with a slightly lower crest freeboard. In total, three cross-sections were examined in the 36 m long wave flume of the Padova University. The test programme includes 10 irregular wave attacks and three different water levels. The test results differ considerably from the results of the available formulas, since the investigated cross-sections by far exceed their range of applicability. The presence of the steps affects only the reflection coefficient rather than the overtopping discharges. In general, if the waves incident to the Piazza are higher than 40 cm, which is a possible scenario, some other adaptation works must be considered, such as the pavement rise, temporary barriers or the reduction of the waves impacting the quay through, for instance, floating breakwaters. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Interaction between Waves and Maritime Structures)

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25 pages, 7161 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Green Water on A Fixed Structure Due to Incident Bores: Guidelines and Database for Model Validations Regarding Flow Evolution

by Jassiel V. Hernández-Fontes, Paulo de Tarso T. Esperança, Juan F. Bárcenas Graniel, Sergio H. Sphaier and Rodolfo Silva

Water 2019, 11(12), 2584; https://doi.org/10.3390/w11122584 - 07 Dec 2019

Cited by 17 | Viewed by 2665

Abstract

This paper presents a two-dimensional experimental study of the interaction of wet dam-break bores with a fixed structure, regarding the evolution of the incident flows and the resultant green water events on the deck. The study employs image-based techniques to analyse flow propagation from videos taken by high-speed cameras, considering five different shipping water cases. The features of small air-cavities formed in some green water events of the plunging-dam-break type were analysed. Then, the spatial and temporal distribution of water elevations of the incident bores and green water were investigated, providing a database to be used for model validations. Some guidelines for the selection of the freeboard exceedance, which is of relevance for green water simulations, were provided. Finally, the relationship between the incident bore and water-on-deck kinematics was discussed. The proposed study can be used as a reference for performing simplified and systematic analyses of green water in a different two-dimensional setup, giving high-resolution data that visually capture the flow patterns and allow model validations to be performed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Interaction between Waves and Maritime Structures)

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18 pages, 6141 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Comparison of a Floating Cylinder with Solid and Water Ballast

by Roman Gabl, Thomas Davey, Edd Nixon, Jeffrey Steynor and David M. Ingram

Water 2019, 11(12), 2487; https://doi.org/10.3390/w11122487 - 26 Nov 2019

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3578

Abstract

Modelling and understanding the motion of water filled floating objects is important for a wide range of applications including the behaviour of ships and floating platforms. Previous studies either investigated only small movements or applied a very specific (ship) geometry. The presented experiments are conducted using the simplified geometry of an open topped hollow cylinder ballasted to different displacements. Regular waves are used to excite the floating structure, which exhibits rotation angles of over 20 degrees and a heave motion double that of the wave amplitude. Four different drafts are investigated, each with two different ballast options: with (water) and without (solid) a free surface. The comparison shows a small difference in the body’s three translational motions as well as the rotation around the normal axis to the water surface. Significant differences are observed in the rotation about the wave direction comparable to parametric rolling as seen in ships. The three bigger drafts with free surface switch the dominant global rotation direction from pitch to roll, which can clearly be attributed to the sloshing of the internal water. The presented study provides a new dataset and comparison of varying ballast types on device motions, which may be used for future validation experiments. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Interaction between Waves and Maritime Structures)

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32 pages, 7254 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Flow Depths and Velocities across a Smooth Dike Crest

by Sara Mizar Formentin, Maria Gabriella Gaeta, Giuseppina Palma, Barbara Zanuttigh and Massimo Guerrero

Water 2019, 11(10), 2197; https://doi.org/10.3390/w11102197 - 22 Oct 2019

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 3197

Abstract

This contribution proposes a systematic analysis of the overtopping process at dikes, focused on the statistical description of the extreme flow characteristics across the dike crest. The specific objective of the analysis is the investigation of structures subjected to high run-up levels and low freeboards, under severe or extreme conditions that are likely to occur in the future due to climate change. The adopted methodology is based on the collection of new experimental and numerical tests of wave overtopping at smooth dikes at various crest levels. The reliability of the new data is checked in terms of average overtopping discharge and wave reflection coefficient, against consolidated predicting methods from the literature. An update and refitting of the existing formulae for the prediction of the extreme flow depths and velocities at the dike off-shore edge is proposed based on the experimental and numerical outcomes. The dynamics of the overtopping flow propagation along the dike crest under breaking and non-breaking waves, in emerged and submerged conditions, is investigated. Guidelines to update the state-of-the-art formulae for a more cautious estimation of the water depths and the velocities of propagation of the flow in the landward area are provided. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Interaction between Waves and Maritime Structures)

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20 pages, 8562 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Laboratory Experimental Investigation on the Hydrodynamic Responses of an Extra-Large Electrical Platform in Wave and Storm Conditions

by Dong-Liang Zhang, Chun-Wei Bi, Guan-Ye Wu, Sheng-Xiao Zhao and Guo-Hai Dong

Water 2019, 11(10), 2042; https://doi.org/10.3390/w11102042 - 29 Sep 2019

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2830

Abstract

The application of electrical platform for converter station in offshore wind farm is highly forward-looking and strategic. The offshore electrical platform is complicated in structure, bulky in volume, and expensive in cost. In addition, the built-in electrical equipment is very sensitive to the acceleration response. Therefore, it is very important to study the hydrodynamic response of the electrical platform exposed in the open sea. Based on the elastic similarity, Froude similarity, as well as the flexural-stiffness similarity of the cross-section, the hydroelastic similarity was derived to guide the model test of a 10,000-ton offshore electrical platform in wind, wave, and current. The hydrodynamic responses including strain and acceleration at key positions of the structure were obtained for different incident angles of external environmental loads. The experimental results showed the increase of water depth can cause more than 10 times increase of strain and acceleration response of the platform. The attack angle of external environmental loads had no definite relationship with strain response of the structure. Therefore, the most dangerous attack angle cannot be determined. The strain of the structure under the combined action of wind, wave, and flow was significantly larger than that under wave load only. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Interaction between Waves and Maritime Structures)

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19 pages, 4816 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Application of an Analytic Methodology to Estimate the Movements of Moored Vessels Based on Forecast Data

by José Sande, Andrés Figuero, Javier Tarrío-Saavedra, Enrique Peña, Alberto Alvarellos and Juan Ramón Rabuñal

Water 2019, 11(9), 1841; https://doi.org/10.3390/w11091841 - 04 Sep 2019

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2723

Abstract

A port’s operating capacity and the economic performance of its concessions are intimately related to the quality of its operational conditions. This paper presents an analytical methodology for estimating the movements of a moored vessel based on field measurements and forecast data, specifically including ship dimensions and meteorological and maritime conditions. The methodology was tested and validated in the Outer Port of Punta Langosteira, A Coruña, Spain. It was determined that the significant wave height outside the port, and the ratio of the vessel’s length divided by its beam (L/B), are the variables that most influence movements. Furthermore, heave and surge are the movements with a better value of the coefficient of determination (R² values of 0.71 and 0.67, respectively), the sway (R² = 0.30) and roll (R² = 0.27) being the worst when using the available forecast variables of the Outer Port of Punta Langosteira. Despite their low R² values, sway and roll models are able to estimate the main trends of these movements. The obtained estimators provide good predictions with assumable error values (root mean square error—RMSE and mean absolute error—MAE), showing their potential application as a predictive tool. Finally, as a consequence, the A Coruña Port Authority has included the results of the methodology in its port management system allowing them to predict moored vessel behavior in the port. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Interaction between Waves and Maritime Structures)

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29 pages, 12515 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Dynamic Calculation of Breakwater Crown Walls under Wave Action: Influence of Soil Mechanics and Shape of the Loading State

by Enrique Maciñeira, Enrique Peña, José Sande and Andrés Figuero

Water 2019, 11(6), 1149; https://doi.org/10.3390/w11061149 - 31 May 2019

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3944

Abstract

As a consequence of the action of waves on rubble mound breakwaters, there are loads—both on the vertical and horizontal sides of the crown walls—which modify the conditions of their stability. These loads provoke dynamic impulses that generate movements that are not possible to be analyzed by static calculation. This study presents the results obtained using a simplified method of dynamic calculation of the crown walls, presented in Appendix A, based on the variation of the forces acting against the structure in the time domain and the soil characteristics. It provides results of the expected movements of the structure and the deformations produced in the foundation. With this, traditional static calculation is improved and knowledge about the phenomenon is enhanced, highlighting the uncertainties in the system. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Interaction between Waves and Maritime Structures)

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Graphical abstract

18 pages, 10510 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Stability of Rubble Mound Breakwaters—A Study of the Notional Permeability Factor, Based on Physical Model Tests

by Mads Røge Eldrup, Thomas Lykke Andersen and Hans Falk Burcharth

Water 2019, 11(5), 934; https://doi.org/10.3390/w11050934 - 02 May 2019

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 4975 | Correction

Abstract

The Van der Meer formulae for quarry rock armor stability are commonly used in breakwater design. The formulae describe the stability as a function of the wave characteristics, number of waves, front slope angle and rock material properties. The latter includes a so-called notional permeability factor characterizing the permeability of the structure. Based on armor stability model tests with three armor layer compositions, Van der Meer determined three values of the notional permeability. Based on numerical model results he added for a typical layer composition one more value. Based on physical model tests, the present paper provides notional permeability factors for seven layer compositions of which two correspond to the compositions tested by Van der Meer. The results of these two layer compositions are within the scatter of the results by Van der Meer. To help determination of the notional permeability for non-tested layer compositions, a simple empirical formula is presented. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Interaction between Waves and Maritime Structures)

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