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Floating caissons can oscillate owing to ocean waves when towed to an installation site. To reduce these oscillations, free-surface anti-oscillation tanks mounted on floating caissons have been proposed. However, no coupled numerical model exists between the motion of the floating caisson and fluid flow in the tanks based on computational fluid dynamics (CFD). In this study, a coupled model is developed and compared to existing physical experiments for validation. In the coupled model, the vertical and rotational motion of the floating caisson are computed as a rigid body, and the motion of the free water in the tank is computed using a CFD model. Numerical results show the predictive capability of the coupled model in terms of the rotational motion (pitch) of the floating caisson within ±20% of experimental data, regardless of the absence or presence of water in the tank. The numerical results also show that the fluid flow with complex air–water interface motion in the tank can be analyzed in detail using the coupled model. This suggests that the coupled model developed in this study is a useful tool for quantitatively assessing the effectiveness of an anti-oscillation tank for reducing the pitch of a floating caisson.

A two-phase incompressible flow model in three-dimensional cylindrical coordinates is applied for oblique wave generation in a numerical circular wave tank. The governing equations are discretized by a finite volume method, and a mass source function is added to reproduce oblique waves through a spiral wave generator positioned at the center of the tank. The volume of fluid method is implemented to track the free surfaces between the air and fluid, and the zonal embedded grid system is adopted to obtain a grid-independent solution in the cylindrical coordinates. A permeable, circumferentially sloping topography (1:7), similar to a natural beach profile, is set up for investigating wave propagation and other characteristics. The simulation and physical experimental results are compared, which show a good agreement in randomly selected water surface elevation profiles and wave heights under the same wave and sloping conditions. The spiral waves are reproduced and propagated in a phenomenon similar to that observed in the physical experiment. The results also show that the wave-breaking positions differ in different wave conditions and suggest a relationship with cross-shore and longshore velocity distribution in terms of incident wave heights and wave-breaking positions in different wave periods on the same sloping topography. Furthermore, this model can be used to investigate the mechanism of longshore current generation and the influences of beach slope on the generated wave propagation in a sloping topography.

This study investigated the interaction between containers under extreme hydrodynamic conditions modeled on tsunamis to assess whether the number and layout of containers affect their motion and to guide future studies on numerical simulations describing tsunami-debris motion. The three-dimensional Fluid–Structure–Sediment–Seabed Interaction Model (FS3M), which can compute tsunami–container interaction, was used as a numerical test model, and numerical results for the specific target of the simulation were compared with experimental data to check the validity and computational accuracy of the FS3M. The study showed that the number of rows (Nx), columns (Ny), and stacks (Nz) in the initial arrangement of containers constitute the main factor affecting the area where the containers spread and their drift motion velocity. An increase in Nx and Nz can effectively reduce the container drift velocity. Conversely, as Ny increases, the drift motion velocity of the center of gravity of the entire group increases. The results of this study can facilitate the development of more realistic building structure scenarios in future research that consider the proposed characteristic damage estimation and comprehensive assessment methods laid out herein.

In this paper, a hydraulic model experiment was conducted to investigate the mechanism of longshore sediment transport on a sloping beach of 1:7 using a circular wave tank equipped with a spiral wave maker. The experimental results revealed that cross-shore sediment transport was predominant up to the formation of equilibrium cross-section. Then the longshore sediment transport was actively dominant near the bar after the development of equilibrium topography. The wave-breaking positions and the characteristics of sand displacement in the vicinity of the wave-breaking zone were observed throughout the installation of fluorescent sands in different cross-sections under several wave conditions on the same terrain to presume the coastal erosion. From the outcomes, it was confirmed that the gradient of the average water level due to the obliquely incident waves breaking and the differences in breaking positions along the shoreline accelerated the generation of longshore currents and longshore sediment transport in the sloping beach profile. Moreover, the actively longshore sediment transport tendency throughout the breaking waves and the longshore current had been confirmed in this study where the gradually increasing wave heights influenced the stronger degree of wave breaking on the sloping beach, which enhanced the sediment transport procedure to deform the beach profile.

This paper studied the resonant behaviors of a bottom-hinged oscillating wave surge converter (OWSC) as well as the relationship of resonance with the response and capture width ratio (CWR). The time-domain dynamic equation of an OWSC in shallow water based on the boundary element method (BEM) was solved by a Python code, considering the corrected wave surface and the nonlinearities of restoring moment, drag, and friction. The unknown factors, such as wave surface corrected factor and drag coefficient, were effectively calibrated with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method. An intermediate initial angle in free decay is appropriate for use to determine the natural period. Under regular waves, the resonance occurs near the natural period for the uniform wave amplitude, rather than the uniform wave torque amplitude, and can disappear due to the amplification of Power Take-Off (PTO) friction. Under unit-amplitude regular waves, the period of maximum CWR is relatively close to the period of maximum velocity, but far from the resonant period. Under irregular waves, no stable resonance is observed because the maximum equivalent pitch angle appears at different peak periods of wave spectra with the variation in PTO damping. When the period of a regular wave or the peak period of an irregular wave is close to the natural period, a phase hysteresis of velocity relative to wave torque always occurs.

Floating caissons may oscillate primarily due to ocean waves during towing operations. Reducing the oscillation based on the extension part (footing) of the bottom slab of the caissons can efficiently increase the safety of towing maneuvers. However, the influence of the footing length on the motion of floating caissons has not been adequately studied. This study investigates this topic through hydraulic model experiments and numerical simulations. Experimental results for regular waves show that the rotational motion (pitch) of the caisson around the wave crest direction increases owing to resonance. This suggests that the pitch could be reduced by designing caissons, such that resonance may be prevented along the footing length. In the numerical simulations of irregular waves, the Fourier amplitudes of the heave and pitch show that the footings amplify their low-frequency components and reduce their high-frequency components. Furthermore, the significant total amplitudes of the heave and pitch show a different trend from that of the regular waves observed in the hydraulic model experiments. This suggests that it is essential to examine the motion of a caisson under irregular waves when assessing the effect of footings in an actual marine environment.

Breaking waves generated by wave shoaling in coastal areas have a close relationship with various physical phenomena in coastal regions. Therefore, it is crucial to accurately predict breaker indexes such as breaking wave height and breaking depth when designing coastal structures. Many studies on wave breaking have been carried out, and many experimental data have been documented. Representative studies on wave breaking provide many empirical formulas for the prediction of breaking index, mainly through hydraulic model experiments. However, the existing empirical formulas for breaking index determine the coefficients of the assumed equation through statistical analysis of data under the assumption of a specific equation. This study presents an alternative method to estimate breaker index using representative linear-based supervised machine learning algorithms that show high predictive performance in various research fields related to regression or classification problems. Based on the used machine learning methods, a new simple linear equation for the prediction of breaker index is presented. The newly proposed breaker index formula showed similar predictive performance compared to the existing empirical formula, although it was a simple linear equation.

Tsunamis can seriously damage bridges in coastal areas. Studies of such damage have elucidated the action of tsunami-induced forces on girders. However, tsunami-induced erosion of bridge-abutment backfill has been largely neglected. This article investigates this little-studied topic using hydraulic model experiments and numerical analyses. The results show that a tsunami erodes the backfill close to the abutment; the scale of the erosion increases with the duration of the tsunami. By contrast, the backfill on the far side of the abutment remains relatively intact. This suggests that the presence of the abutment accelerates the erosion of the backfill in its vicinity. A numerical simulation shows that the tsunami erodes the oval conical part of the backfill on the landward side of the onshore wing. When the erosion reaches the lower end of the wing the backfill begins to flow out from underneath. Thus, an increase in the soil-cover depth of the onshore wing might help slow down the erosion.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of three external forces (tidal current, wind, and waves) on the movement of oil spilled during the Hebei Spirit oil spill accident. The diffusion of the spilled oil was simulated by using a random walk (RW) model that tracks the movement caused by advection-diffusion assuming oil as particles. For oil simulation, the wind drift current generated by wind and tidal current fields were computed by using the environmental fluid dynamics code (EFDC) model. Next, the wave fields were simulated by using the simulating waves nearshore (SWAN) model, and the Stokes drift current fields were calculated by applying the equation proposed by Stokes. The computed tidal currents, wind drift currents, and Stokes drift currents were applied as input data to the RW model. Then, oil diffusion distribution for each external force component was investigated and compared with that obtained from satellite images. When the wind drift currents and Stokes drift currents caused by waves were considered, the diffusion distribution of the spilled oil showed good agreement with that obtained from the observation.