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In this paper we present a new method for numerically modelling landslide-generated tsunamis in OpenFOAM® by using a new approach based on the Overset mesh technique. This technique, which is based on the use of two (or more) numerical domains, is new in the coastal engineering field and appears to be extremely powerful to model the interaction between a moving body and one or more fluids. Indeed, the accurate resolution around the moving body (i.e. body-fitted approach), guaranteed by this method, offers a great advantage to study the momentum exchange between the body and the water. Furthermore, in order to overcome a drawback of the Overset mesh implementation we modelled the solid boundaries, along which the landslide body moves, as a porous media with a very low permeability. The new approach has been preliminarily, and successfully, validated through the numerical reproduction of past experiments for landslide-generated tsunamis triggered by a solid and impermeable wedge at a sloping coast.

This paper presents new tests on a perforated vertical wall caisson. The tests aim at evaluating the reduction of the reflection coefficient caused by different perforations. The reflection coefficient is estimated using the novel nonlinear methods proposed by Lykke Andersen et al. (2017) and Eldrup and Lykke Andersen (2019). The structure under investigation is, at prototype scale, 21.50 m high, 35.55 m long and 13.90 m wide, divided into 3 rows of 8 cells. The caisson has a recurved ‘nose’ and air vents on the parapet wall. An identical plain wall caisson without absorbing chambers is also tested for comparison. Two-dimensional laboratory tests have been carried out at Department of Engineering of Roma Tre University with both irregular and regular waves, reproducing mild wave conditions and design wave conditions. Two water levels have been used, reproducing the mean water level and a set-up condition of +0.5 m. Four structural layouts are tested in order to study various perforation types. Furthermore, the effect of the wave obliquity and of the short crestedness on the reflection coefficient is discussed using some 3D laboratory data obtained back in the 1995 but not published before.

Recent advances in deep sea measurement technology provide an increasing opportunity to detect and interpret hydro-acoustic waves as a component in improved Tsunami Early Warning Systems (TEWS). For the idealized case of a homogeneous water column above a moving but otherwise rigid bottom (in terms of assessing acoustic wave interaction), the description of the infinite family of acoustic modes is characterized by local water depth at source area; i.e. the period of the first acoustic mode is given by four times the required time for sound to travel from the seabed to the surface. Spreading off from earthquake zone, the dominant spectrum is filtered and enriched by seamounts and barriers. This study focuses on the characteristics of hydro-acoustic waves generated by sudden sea bottom motion in a weakly compressible fluid coupled with an underlying sedimentary layer, where the added complexity of the sediment layer rheology leads to both the lowering of dominant spectral peaks and wave attenuation across the full spectrum. To overcome the computational difficulties of three-dimensional models, we derive a depth integrated equation valid for varying water depth and sediment thickness. Damping behavior of the two layered system is initially taken into account by introducing the viscosity of fluid-like sedimentary layer. We show that low frequency pressure waves which are precursor components of tsunamis contain information of seafloor motion.