NUMERICAL SIMULATIONS AND ASSESSMENTS OF PERFORATED BREAKWATERS

Abstract

In this paper we study the physical processes of regular wave trains impacting on a perforated breakwater. The breakwater consists of an array of vertical rectangular columns and a backwall. We have performed numerical simulations in which reflection coefficients have been calculated based on the Mansard and Funke (1980) theory and compared with laboratory data and analytical solutions (Kakuno et al. 1992, Kakuno & Liu, 1993). The numerical solutions will be further analyzed to describe the hydrodynamic processes, identify the limitations of the analytical theory and the scale effects in the laboratory experiments.