Numerical and Experimental Predictions of Overtopping Volumes for Violent Overtopping Events

Storm waves breaking in the surf zone and crashing over seawalls are a violent natural phenomenon with the potential to cause enormous damage. Much of the existing design guidance for seawalls considers the mean overtopping discharge on the structure. Under impacting conditions, however, the overtopping volumes associated with individual events can be significant. Under the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) funded VOWS project and the European Commission funded CLASH project work has been undertaken using both laboratory investigation and computer simulation to quantify these wave by wave overtopping volumes. This paper discusses the application of the AMAZON-SC multiphase numerical wave flume developed by Manchester Metropolitan University to simulate experiments of violent wave overtopping conducted in the Edinburgh University 20m wave flume.