3.3.

3 Wave overtopping

▪▪ Wave
  overtopping is often represented by ,
the average volume of water overtopping the • Wave-overtopping of breakwater
crest of the breakwater per second per meter in a flume test.

length of the breakwater, even though the

amount of overtopping varies considerably
from wave to wave and in most cases the bulk
of the average discharge is caused by a limited
fraction of the waves.

• Wave-overtopping of
1
breakwater in nature.
 ▪  
No standards for overtopping exist. However,
some critical values structure,
m3/s/m, have been established on the basis
of field observations, cf. Table 3,
which corresponds to targets situated few meters
behind the breakwater crest.

Table 3. Critical values of average overtopping discharges, Q m3/s/m

P e d e s tr ia n s w e t, b u t s a f e < 4 ·1 0 -6 < v e ry u n c o m fo rta b le < 3 -1 0 - 5 < u n safe

V e h ic le s s a fe d riv in g < 1 0 -·6 < d iff ic u lt to d riv e < 2 -1 0 -5 < u n s a fe to d riv e

B u ild in g s m in o r d a m a g e to d a m a g e to
and no dam age < 1 0 -·6 < s ig n p o s ts , fittin g s < 3 . 1 0 -5 < s tru c tu ra l
in s ta lla tio n s w in d o w s e tc . p a rts

2
  

.
Fig.8 shows the parameters related to . The relative free board is the most im­portant
dimensionless parameter, because model tests show that the dimensionless
is decreasing proportionally to the exponential function of , i.e.

) (4) G B

3
 3.3.4 Wave reflection

Rubble mound breakwaters reflect some

proportion of the incident wave energy. If
significant, the interaction of incident and
reflected waves can create a very confused sea
with very steep and often breaking waves. It is a
well known problem in many harbour entrance
areas where it can cause considerable
manoeuvring problems to smaller vessels. The
reflection can be quantified by the reflection
coefficient

4
 (5 )

where Hs significant wave height of incident wave

H s ,r s ig n ific a n t w a v e h e ig h ts o f in c id e n t w a v e
The reflection coefficient for smooth, impermeable and non-overtopped slope reads

< 2.5 (6)

and for non-overtopped rock slope reads

(7 )

5
 3.3.5 Wave transmission

▪ Waves behind a rubble mound breakwater are caused

mainly by overtopping, but also by wave penetration.
Wave transmission can cause ship maneuver problem
inside a harbour.
▪ Wave transmission can be characterized by a
transmission coefficient, Ct, defined as

(8 )
Hs,t is the significant wave height on the harbour side of structures.
6
 3.3.6 Wave force on armour
layer and armour unit stability

▪ Wave breaking on slopes causes up-rush and

down-rush, which are characterized by the velocity
v. vis highly non-stationary with respect to both
velocity and direction.

▪ The flow forces acting on an armour unit by up-

rush and down-rush is schematized in Fig.9. The
flow is assumed to be quasi-stationary, i.e. the
inertia force F1 is neglected.

Fig. 9. Illustration of forces on armour units.

7
  
The armour unit size is characterized by an equivalent cube length Dn,.
Dn (9)

M and Pa are the mass and density of the armour unit respectively. The gravity force is the submerged weight of
the armour unit

(10)

The lift force FL is caused by the difference in pressure on the upper and lower side of the unit due to the velocity
difference.
The drag force FD consists two parts: skin friction force acting on the surface of the unit and form drag force due
to the difference in pressure on the up-flow and down-flow side of the unit. For the case of rubble mound
breakwater armour unit, the form drag force is many times larger than the skin friction force.
Applying the Morison equation the flow forces on a resting unit can be expressed as follows:

FD ≈ CDpw Av 2 FL ≈ CLpwAv 2

where A cross sectional area at right angles to v

CD , CL drag and lift coefficients respectively

8
 Because A <X D and v ex H (cf. section on wave run-up and run-down), the resultant flow force may be
written

C is a coefficient.
There are several armour unit displacement modes, cf. Fig.10.

Rocking of unit during Rotation and subsequent down- Rotation and subsequent
up-and down rush slope up-slope displacement of Sliding of several armour unit (armour
displacement of unit during down- unit during up-rush layer) during down-rush
rush

Fig.1 0. Armour unit displacement modes.

9