Abstract

RUIZ-Y-ZURVIA-FLORES, Jaime Roberto  and  FRAGOSO-SANDOVAL, Lucio. Wave deflectors for surface breakwaters. Tecnol. cienc. agua [online]. 2012, vol.3, n.4, pp.57-71. ISSN 2007-2422.

In Mexican ports, some of the protection works (such as breakwaters and jetties) present severe structural damage, as well as low crown height, causing seasonal problems related to wave overtopping. One solution to this problem consists of using concrete wave deflectors. Validation is a criterion used to design deflectors for surface breakwaters, in order to obtain designs appropriate to the functioning of these structures under the wave conditions to which they will be submitted. Therefore, the objective of this study is to describe the development of an experimental study to determine the most effective dimensions and geometries for a wave deflector. The study was conducted using a physical model which tested four different types of deflectors placed at the crown of a trapezoidal rubble mound breakwater. It was carried out in a narrow wave flume using a computer-controlled system to generate regular and irregular water waves. The wave-maker was used to generate and reproduce the irregular wave conditions required by the tests. A holograph with resistive wave gauges controlled by a computerized system was used to measure and process the model's wave data. The results showed that the wave deflector´s geometry (curvature) plays a fundamental role in diminishing wave overtopping, and that wave deflector 4 showed the best behavior, having more greatly reduced overtopping. In addition, three state-of-the-art formulas -Franco, Allsop and EurOtop- were employed to calculate wave overtopping for breakwaters with wave deflectors. Allsop´s formula was found to have better agreement with the experimental results obtained.

Keywords : surface breakwater; deflector; wave flume; tests; irregular waves.

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