Hydrodynamic analysis of a skirt breakwater

In the present study, wave interaction with a fixed double partially immersed (skirt) breakwater was investigated numerically and experimentally. The large-scale laboratory experiments concerning the interaction of regular and irregular waves with the breakwater were conducted in the Canal d'Investigació i Experimentació Marítima flume of maritime engineering laboratory at Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya in Barcelona. The experimental results were compared with numerical results obtained with the use of the Cobras model for the regular waves case. The effects of relative width (structure length/wave length) and the relative distance (distance between two barriers/wave length) on the hydrodynamic characteristics (wave transmission, reflection, dissipation, velocity, turbulence kinetic energy) were investigated. The experimental water surface elevation compared satisfactorily with the computed results. Detailed computed velocities and turbulence kinetic energy in the vicinity of the two structures indicate the effects of the breakwater on the flow pattern and the turbulence structure.