Parametric modeling of depth-limited wave spectra under hurricane conditions with applications to kinetic umbrellas against storm surge inundation

Abstract

This paper presents a simplified parametric model for the estimation of depth-limited hurricane wave spectra, accounting for swell and wind-sea components, for coastal engineering applications. The model was evaluated against observations obtained from three shallow water sites in Florida during Hurricane David in September 1979. It was revealed that the parametric approach increases in accuracy with decreasing distance to the storm center and generally provides a conservative representation of the significant wave height, albeit overestimating the peak wave frequency. The model was subsequently adopted to evaluate the performance of tilted hyperbolic paraboloidal (hy-par) shells (referred to as “kinetic umbrellas”) as an adaptable alternative to conventional floodwalls via smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH). The introduction of hypar geometry proved superior to conventional sloped barriers in reducing overtopping waves but decreases in effectiveness at levels of inundation greater than two-thirds the deployed height. Furthermore, umbrellas exhibiting larger geometrical warping were more capable at suppressing overtopping but must sustain larger base shear forces when subjected to irregular waves consistent with landfalling hurricanes.