Experimental Investigation of Cylindrical Floating Breakwater Performance with Various Mooring Configurations
Publication: Journal of Waterway, Port, Coastal, and Ocean Engineering
Volume 137, Issue 6
Abstract
Floating breakwaters are typically used to protect small marinas or for shoreline erosion control on limited-fetch water bodies in which wavelengths are relatively short, such as lakes, reservoirs, and bays. In spite of the large amount of literature on floating breakwaters, there is still a lack of knowledge on the performance of cylindrical breakwaters, which, as a result of their simplicity, can minimize construction and material costs. In this paper, we describe a laboratory investigation of the hydrodynamic interaction of cylindrical breakwaters with monochromatic waves in deep and transitional water depths such as are found in small reservoirs. The tested breakwater models feature single- and multiple-cylinder cross sections combined with bottom-moored, arm-restrained (connected to shoreline), and pile-restrained configurations. When the breakwater models were fixed, the reflection was higher than in the partially restrained models, and the efficiency was strongly dependent on draft ratio (, where is the draft and is the height of the structure). For partially restrained models, dissipation strongly influenced the transmission coefficients. For the measured range of waves, was the best of the tested draft ratios for the pile-restrained model. Horizontal restraint was found to be more important than vertical restraint in terms of improving breakwater efficiency.
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Acknowledgments
The writers would like to thank Keith Admire at the Natural Resources Conservation Service, National Water Management Office in Little Rock, Arkansas, for supporting this work. While there, Dennis Carman initiated the work and has continued to be a valuable resource. Glenn Gray provided invaluable technical support for all phases of the work.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Waterway, Port, Coastal, and Ocean Engineering
Volume 137 • Issue 6 • November 2011
Pages: 300 - 309
Copyright
© 2011 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jul 30, 2010
Accepted: Feb 24, 2011
Published online: Mar 4, 2011
Published in print: Nov 1, 2011
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