NUS CONFIDENTIAL

CE5308 

               NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE

CE5308 – COASTAL PROCESES AND SEDIMENT

TRANSPORT
(Semester 2: AY2016/2017)

Time allowed: 2 hours

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INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES

1. Please write your student number only. Do not write your name.

2. This assessment paper contains FOUR questions and comprises FIVE printed
pages.

3. Answer ALL questions. All questions DO NOT carry equal marks.

4. This is an “OPEN BOOK” assessment.

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Question 1 [25 marks]

A swell (periodic) wave period of 6 seconds, height H=1 meter, is recorded by a

bottom pressure type wave gauge in h=15m deep water. Water density 1000kg/m3.
Use linear wave theory:

(a) What is the length of this wave? [5 marks]

(b) What is the amplitude of pressure variation measured by the pressure gauge
[5 marks]

(c) What is the local group velocity [5 marks]

(d) What is the local wave energy? [5 marks]

(e) What is the local wave energy? [5 marks]

 
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Question 2 [20 marks]

A 2 km-long and straight sandy beach is in equilibrium. The native sands are quite
uniform and the diameter is dN=0.2mm, and the berm height is B=1m. Field survey
indicates that the offshore significant wave height has an annual mean value of
Hsig=1.2m and a standard deviation of σH=0.6m. Local government wants to extend
the dry beach width into the sea by 6 m through a beach nourishment project.
Estimate the necessary volume of sands:

(a) the diameter of filled sands is dF=0.32 mm. [10 marks]

(b) the diameter of filled sands is dF=0.12 mm. [10 marks]

 
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Question 3 [25 marks]

For laminar wave boundary layer, the friction factor can be analytically derived and
the result is:
2 U b Ab
fw  , Re 
Re 
where ν is the water’s kinematic viscosity, Ub is the amplitude of the near-bottom
wave orbital velocity, and Ab is the excursion amplitude, i.e. Ab=UbT/2π (T is wave
period). Based on this, an initiation of sediment motion criterion for waves has been
obtained. It is expressed in terms of the sediment grain size, di, that would be at the
“threshold” for given wave condition, and reads,
 1/2 H
di  200
h
( s  1) gT 3/2 sinh(2 )
L
Where H is wave height, L is wave length, s is the sediment specific density, g is the
gravitational acceleration and h is the local water depth.
(a) Show that this criterion is equivalent to a Shield criterion:
 cr  0.04
where ψcr is the critical Shields parameter for incipient motion. [19 marks]

(b) Discuss whether this criterion is suitable for field application. [6 marks]

 
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Question 4 [30 marks]

In this question, we consider a field study of wave-current boundary layer over a

rough bottom. The local waves are quite regular swells, which can be approximately
taken as periodic sinusoidal waves. Two velocity-measurement devices report two
measurements of current velocity outside the wave boundary layer:
uc ,1  15cm / s @ z1  30 cm
uc ,2  17cm / s @ z2  50 cm

Where z1 and z2 are vertical distances from the seabed. A sensor that can measure the
time-varying bottom shear stress is also deployed, which gives a maximum wave
bottom shear stress
 wm  2.5Pa
A wave gauge was supposed to record the wave height. However, it was clearly
malfunctioned, since the reported wave height is 1000 m, while the local water depth
is only 10 m. However, the wave period is still reasonably measured, i.e. T=6s. The
angle between waves and currents is 0°. The field survey suggests that the sea bottom
is flat and covered with coarse materials with a diameter of 1mm.

(a) Find the current bottom shear stress [5 marks]

(b) Find the current velocity at z=1cm above the bed. [10 marks]
 

(c) Find the wave height [15 marks]

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