Experimental Study of Wave Overtopping Flow Behavior on Composite Breakwater

The safety of pedestrians on a breakwater structure or seawall is significantly influenced by two essential factors: the wave overtopping flow velocity (OFV) and the overtopping layer thickness (OLT). The main issue, however, is that most studies have predominantly focused on impermeable structures rather than composite breakwaters. This study conducted 55 physical experiments to investigate the OFV and OLT on a composite breakwater. The non-intrusive bubble image velocimetry (BIV) technique was employed to measure the OFV and OLT, as well as the plunging distance on the rear side of the structure. Empirical equations with two sets of dimensionless variables, the wave steepness and relative crest freeboard, were proposed as predictors. The results show that these two dimensionless variables perform well for both OFV and OLT estimation. The comparison between the proposed empirical equation and the available empirical equation in the literature is also presented. Finally, the proposed empirical equations were used to estimate the maximum instantaneous wave overtopping discharge and plunging distance. The findings of this research offer insights into the physical mechanisms of wave overtopping, providing an initial exploration into the design of composite breakwaters.