Wave-Induced Seabed Response around Slope-Type Breakwaters: Experimental and Numerical Study

Aidoo, R. and Sui, T., 2024. Wave-induced seabed response around slope-type breakwaters: Experimental and numerical study. In: Phillips, M.R.; Al-Naemi, S., and Duarte, C.M. (eds.), Coastlines under Global Change: Proceedings from the International Coastal Symposium (ICS) 2024 (Doha, Qatar). Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 113, pp. 834-838. Charlotte (North Carolina), ISSN 0749-0208. Slope-type breakwaters are an essential coastal structure, providing a versatile and cost-effective solution for wave protection. While offering effective wave protection, slope-type breakwaters induce complex responses within the underlying seabed or around them. This study aimed to investigate the intricate relationship among wave characteristics, breakwater, and the resulting pore pressure and liquefaction potential within the seabed around such structures. Laboratory experiments were conducted to investigate wave-structure-seabed interaction in a physical wave flume for this study. By employing the OlaFlow solvers in OpenFOAM, a numerical model was developed to reproduce the laboratory experiments. The main objective of the study was to validate the numerical model with the laboratory results, which a good agreement was achieved between the results. Two wave characteristics, three degrees of saturation, and three rates of permeability were examined with the numerical model in a 160m wave flume model to investigate their effect and influence on wave-induced pore pressure distribution and liquefaction potential around three slope-angled breakwaters. The results show that the physical properties such as degree of saturation and permeability exhibit similar trends of dynamic response, with higher levels having the most influence on the wave-induced pore pressure and liquefaction potential. Additionally, the effect of the slope angles of the breakwater was such that as the slope angle of the breakwater becomes gentler, the liquefaction potential increases.