Modelling shore-side pressure distributions from violent wave breaking at a seawall

Abstract

Violent wave breaking at seawalls can produce significant landward pressure fields with ability to damage adjacent on-shore structures. To date quantification of these pressure fields is little understood. This paper uses the numerical modelling approach of smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) to simulate this phenomenon. Favourable comparison with experimental work demonstrates the potential of the SPH method in this application.