Riprap Stability on the Inner Slopes of Medium-Height Breakwaters

Medium height breakwaters are subjected to a considerable amount of overtopping. This implies the armour on the inner slope has to stable against overtopping waves. Existing equations do lack some basic understanding of the process of starting up movement of rock on the inner slopes. In order to get more insight into this phenomenon a special device has been constructed in the laboratory. In this device it is possible to generate one single, overtopping wave. So with this piece of equipment overtopping of single waves can be repeated several times and a relation can be looked for between the individual plunge and the stability of the individual blocks. In an other research program the relation between the random waves and the individual plunges is investigated. As a follow up the results of damage by individual waves will be combined with the distribution of overtopping water over a breakwater. This combination will result in a damage distribution due to random overtopping. It has been found from the first test series that stability of the blocks can be described as a function of the maximum water velocity on the crest, combined with some geometrical parameters of the inner slope. From this research followed that the crest height and inner slope also had an effect on stability.