Wave forces on curved seawalls

ABSTRACT PhD. THESIS WAVE FORCES ON CURVED SEAWALLS Mustafa MAMAK DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING INSTITUTE OF NATURAL AND APPLIED SCIENCES UNIVERSITY OF ÇUKUROVA Supervisor: Prof. Dr. M. Salih KIRKGÖZ Year: 2002, Pages: 137 Jury : Prof. Dr. M. Salih KIRKGÖZ : Prof. Dr. Beşir ŞAHİN : Assist. Prof. Dr. Mehmet ARDIÇLIO?LU : Assist. Prof. Dr. Zeliha SELEK : Assist. Prof. Dr. Hatice ÖZMEN Breaking waves cause impact pressures that can be very high in magnitude and short in duration on coastal structures. These pressures are important for the stability of the structure. Therefore pressure distribution between the wave and structure has to be determined. In order to predict the magnitude of impact pressures and their distributions on the wall some theoretical models such as water-hammer analysis and air-cushion analysis, semi-empirical models such as impulse-momentum analysis and experimental methods have been used. In this study, a theoretical method based on the determination of pressure impulse is used to analyze the impact pressures induced by waves breaking on the plane and curved seawalls. The numerical methods used for the solution of the governing equation are: (a) Finite difference method, (b) Finite elements method, and (c) Boundary element method. The comparison of the results of numerical methods with each other, and the comparison of impact pressures evaluated by theoretical analysis and from experimental data are carried out. Key Words : Breaking wave, Impact pressure, Seawall, Curved wall, Boundary element method. II