scholarly journals THE INFLUENCE OF CURRENTS ON WAVE ATTENUATION

1988 ◽  
Vol 1 (21) ◽  
pp. 25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard R. Simons ◽  
Anthony J. Grass ◽  
Andreas Kyriacou

Measurements have been made of wave height decay in a rough bottomed flume for waves alone and for waves combined with 3 following currents. Tests have also been carried out to quantify energy dissipation at the sidewalls under these conditions. Results show that waves attenuate less rapidly when propagating on a following current, with a corresponding reduction in wave-current friction factor. A simple method is suggested by which wave attenuation in the presence of following and opposing currents can be predicted.

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samiksha S. Volvaiker ◽  
Ponnumony Vethamony ◽  
Prasad K. Bhaskaran ◽  
Premanand Pednekar ◽  
MHamsa Jishad ◽  
...  

Abstract. Coastal regions of India are prone to sea level rise, cyclones, storm surges and human induced activities, resulting in flood, erosion, and inundation. The primary aim of the study is to estimate wave attenuation by mangrove vegetation using SWAN model in standalone mode, as well as SWAN nested with WW3 model for the Mumbai coastal region. To substantiate the model results, wave measurements were carried out during 5–8 August 2015 at 3 locations in a transect normal to the coast using surface mounted pressure level sensors under spring tide conditions. The measured data presents wave height attenuation of the order of 52 %. The study shows a linear relationship between wave height attenuation and gradual changes in water level in the nearshore region, in phase with the tides. Model set-up and sensitivity analyses were conducted to understand the model performance to vegetation parameters. It was observed that wave attenuation increased with an increase in drag coefficient (Cd), vegetation density, and stem diameter. For a typical set-up for Mumbai coastal region having vegetation density of 0.175 per m2, stem diameter of 0.3 m and drag coefficient varying from 0.4 to 1.5, the model reproduced attenuation, ranging from 49 to 55 %, which matches well with the measured data. Spectral analysis performed for the cases with and without vegetation very clearly portrays energy dissipation in the vegetation area as well as spectral changes. This study has the potential of improving the quality of wave prediction in vegetation areas, especially during monsoon season and extreme weather events.


2020 ◽  
pp. 34-42
Author(s):  
Thibault Chastel ◽  
Kevin Botten ◽  
Nathalie Durand ◽  
Nicole Goutal

Seagrass meadows are essential for protection of coastal erosion by damping wave and stabilizing the seabed. Seagrass are considered as a source of water resistance which modifies strongly the wave dynamics. As a part of EDF R & D seagrass restoration project in the Berre lagoon, we quantify the wave attenuation due to artificial vegetation distributed in a flume. Experiments have been conducted at Saint-Venant Hydraulics Laboratory wave flume (Chatou, France). We measure the wave damping with 13 resistive waves gauges along a distance L = 22.5 m for the “low” density and L = 12.15 m for the “high” density of vegetation mimics. A JONSWAP spectrum is used for the generation of irregular waves with significant wave height Hs ranging from 0.10 to 0.23 m and peak period Tp ranging from 1 to 3 s. Artificial vegetation is a model of Posidonia oceanica seagrass species represented by slightly flexible polypropylene shoots with 8 artificial leaves of 0.28 and 0.16 m height. Different hydrodynamics conditions (Hs, Tp, water depth hw) and geometrical parameters (submergence ratio α, shoot density N) have been tested to see their influence on wave attenuation. For a high submergence ratio (typically 0.7), the wave attenuation can reach 67% of the incident wave height whereas for a low submergence ratio (< 0.2) the wave attenuation is negligible. From each experiment, a bulk drag coefficient has been extracted following the energy dissipation model for irregular non-breaking waves developed by Mendez and Losada (2004). This model, based on the assumption that the energy loss over the species meadow is essentially due to the drag force, takes into account both wave and vegetation parameter. Finally, we found an empirical relationship for Cd depending on 2 dimensionless parameters: the Reynolds and Keulegan-Carpenter numbers. These relationships are compared with other similar studies.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 388
Author(s):  
Huu Phu Nguyen ◽  
Jeong Cheol Park ◽  
Mengmeng Han ◽  
Chien Ming Wang ◽  
Nagi Abdussamie ◽  
...  

Wave attenuation performance is the prime consideration when designing any floating breakwater. For a 2D hydrodynamic analysis of a floating breakwater, the wave attenuation performance is evaluated by the transmission coefficient, which is defined as the ratio between the transmitted wave height and the incident wave height. For a 3D breakwater, some researchers still adopted this evaluation approach with the transmitted wave height taken at a surface point, while others used the mean transmission coefficient within a surface area. This paper aims to first examine the rationality of these two evaluation approaches via verified numerical simulations of 3D heave-only floating breakwaters in regular and irregular waves. A new index—a representative transmission coefficient—is then presented for one to easily compare the wave attenuation performances of different 3D floating breakwater designs.


Author(s):  
Li YIPING ◽  
Desmond Ofosu ANIM ◽  
Ying WANG ◽  
Chunyang TANG ◽  
Wei DU ◽  
...  

This paper presents a well-controlled laboratory experimental study to evaluate wave attenuation by artificial emergent plants (Phragmites australis) under different wave conditions and plant stem densities. Results showed substantial wave damping under investigated regular and irregular wave conditions and also the different rates of wave height and within canopy wave-induced flows as they travelled through the vegetated field under all tested conditions. The wave height decreased by 6%–25% at the insertion of the vegetation field and towards the downstream at a mean of 0.2 cm and 0.32 cm for regular and irregular waves respectively. The significant wave height along the vegetation field ranged from 0.89–1.76 cm and 0.8–1.28 cm with time mean height of 1.38 cm and 1.11 cm respectively for regular and irregular waves. This patterns as affected by plant density and also location from the leading edge of vegetation is investigated in the study. The wave energy attenuated by plant induced friction was predicted in terms of energy dissipation factor (fe) by Nielsen’s (1992) empirical model. Shear stress as a driving force of particle resuspension and the implication of the wave attenuation on near shore protection from erosion and sedimentation was discussed. The results and findings in this study will advance our understanding of wave attenuation by an emergent vegetation of Phragmites australis, in water system engineering like near shore and bank protection and restoration projects and also be employed for management purposes to reduce resuspension and erosion in shallow lakes.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruben Carrasco ◽  
Michael Streßer ◽  
Jochen Horstmann

Abstract. Retrieving spectral wave parameters such as the peak wave direction and wave period from marine radar backscatter intensity is very well developed. However, the retrieval of significant wave height is difficult because the radar image spectrum (a backscatter intensity variance spectrum) has to be transferred to a wave spectrum (a surface elevation variance spectrum) using a modulation transfer function (MTF) which requires extensive calibration for each individual radar setup. In contrast to the backscatter intensity, the Doppler velocity measured by a coherent radar is induced by the radial velocity of the surface scattering and its periodic component is mainly the contribution of surface waves. Therefore, the variance of the Doppler velocity can be utilized to retrieve the significant wave height. Analysing approximately 100 days of Doppler velocity measurements of a coherent on receive radar operating at X-band with vertical polarization in transmit and receive, a simple relation was derived and validated to retrieve significant wave heights. Comparison to wave measurements of a wave rider buoy as well as an acoustic wave and current profiler resulted in a root mean square error of 0.24 m with a bias of 0.08 m. Furthermore, the different sources of error are discussed and investigated.


1978 ◽  
Vol 1 (16) ◽  
pp. 129 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ole Secher Madsen ◽  
Paisal Shusang ◽  
Sue Ann Hanson

In a previous paper Madsen and White (1977) developed an approximate method for the determination of reflection and transmission characteristics of multi-layered, porous rubble-mound breakwaters of trapezoidal cross-section. This approximate method was based on the assumption that the energy dissipation associated with the wave-structure interaction could be considered as two separate mechanisms: (1) an external, frictional dissipation on the seaward slope; (2) an internal dissipation within the porous structure. The external dissipation on the seaward slope was evaluated from the semi-theoretical analysis of energy dissipation on rough, impermeable slopes developed by Madsen and White (1975). The remaining wave energy was represented by an equivalent wave incident on a hydraulically equivalent porous breakwater of rectangular cross-section. The partitioning of the remaining wave energy among reflected, transmitted and internally dissipated energy was evaluated as described by Madsen (1974), leading to a determination of the reflection and transmission coefficients of the structure. The advantage of this previous approximate method was its ease of use. Input data requirements were limited to quantities which would either be known (water depth, wave characteristics, breakwater geometry, and stone sizes) or could be estimated (porosity) by the design engineer. This feature was achieved by the employment of empirical relationships for the parameterization of the external and internal energy dissipation mechanisms. General solutions were presented in graphical form so that calculations could proceed using no more sophisticated equipment than a hand calculator (or a slide rule). This simple method gave estimates of transmission coefficients in excellent agreement with laboratory measurements whereas its ability to predict reflection coefficients left a lot to be desired.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chien Ming Wang ◽  
Huu Phu Nguyen ◽  
Jeong Cheol Park ◽  
Mengmeng Han ◽  
Nagi abdussamie ◽  
...  

&lt;p&gt;Floating breakwaters have been used to protect shorelines, marinas, very large floating structures, dockyards, fish farms, harbours and ports from harsh wave environments. A floating breakwater outperforms its bottom-founded counterpart with respect to its environmental friendliness, cost-effectiveness in relatively deep waters or soft seabed conditions, flexibility for expansion and downsizing and its mobility to be towed away. The effectiveness of a floating breakwater design is assessed by its wave attenuation performance that is measured by the wave transmission coefficient (i.e., the ratio of the transmitted wave height to the incident wave height or the ratio of the transmitted wave energy to the incident wave energy). In some current design guidelines for floating breakwaters, the transmission coefficient is estimated based on the assumption that the realistic ocean waves may be represented by regular waves that are characterized by the significant wave period and wave height of the wave spectrum. There is no doubt that the use of regular waves is simple for practicing engineers designing floating breakwaters. However, the validity and accuracy of using regular waves in the evaluation of wave attenuation performance of floating breakwaters have not been thoroughly discussed in the open literature. This study examines the wave transmission coefficients of floating breakwaters by performing hydrodynamic analysis of some large floating breakwaters in ocean waves modelled as regular waves as well as irregular waves described by a wave spectrum such as the Bretschneider spectrum. The formulation of the governing fluid motion and boundary conditions are based on classical linear hydrodynamic theory. The floating breakwater is assumed to take the shape of a long rectangular box modelled by the Mindlin thick plate theory. The finite element &amp;#8211; boundary element method was employed to solve the fluid-structure interaction problem. By considering heave-only floating box-type breakwaters of 200m and 500m in length, it is found that the transmission coefficients obtained by using the regular wave model may be smaller (or larger) than that obtained by using the irregular wave model by up to 55% (or 40%). These significant differences in the transmission coefficient estimated by using regular and irregular waves indicate that simplifying assumption of realistic ocean waves as regular waves leads to significant over/underprediction of wave attenuation performance of floating breakwaters. Thus, when designing floating breakwaters, the ocean waves have to be treated as irregular waves modelled by a wave spectrum that best describes the wave condition at the site. This conclusion is expected to motivate a revision of design guidelines for floating breakwaters for better prediction of wave attenuation performance. Also, it is expected to affect how one carries out experiments on floating breakwaters in a wave basin to measure the wave transmission coefficients.&lt;/p&gt;


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