Hydrodynamic investigation of a new type of floating breakwaters integrated with porous baffles

• The hydrodynamic characteristics of a novel floating breakwater integrated with porous baffles are studied. • The parametric study of installation position, installation height and porosities of porous baffles is conducted. • The law and mechanism of the porous baffles versus the wave attenuation and floater motion are explored. • The porous baffle can improve the wave energy dissipation and reduce the motion amplitude of the box-type floating breakwater. Due to their easy installation and low maintenance costs, floating breakwaters have attracted extensive attention from scholars, resulting in a series of new configurations. A novel floating breakwater integrated with porous baffles (PFB) was introduced in this research. Numerical simulations were applied to explore the interactions between the PFB and regular waves, and corresponding experiments were also completed to ensure the accuracy of the numerical results. Then, the impacts of the height, position, and porosity on the hydrodynamic performance of the PFB were analyzed through a series of numerical simulations. A comparison with conventional box-type floating breakwaters was also conducted. The results indicated that the porous baffles effectively improved the wave attenuation phenomenon and reduced the motion amplitude by weakening the wave particle velocity and concentrating the vortices near the porous baffles. Additionally, the performance of the PFB could be further increased by adjusting the baffle porosity and mounting position. The study provides valuable suggestions for the further improvement of floating breakwaters.