RELIABILITY ANALYSIS OF BREAKWATER ARMOR BLOCKS:: CASE STUDY IN KOREA.

In Korea, Tetrapods have been widely used to protect rubble mound breakwaters against erosion due to wave action. The deterministic design method has been used based on Hudson or van der Meer formula. In this study, we have performed reliability analyses for thus designed Tetrapod armors of 12 trade harbors and 8 coastal harbors in Korea. It is found that there is a linear relationship between the safety factor and the probability of failure; the larger the safety factor, the smaller the probability of failure. It is also found that the probability of failure during 50-year service lifetime is about 60% for the Tetrapod armors designed by the deterministic design method with the safety factor of 1.0. This finding seems to be natural since the encounter probability that a breakwater will experience storm waves greater than the design wave during its lifetime is 63% if the lifetime is set equal to the design return period. The results of this study could provide a guideline for determining the target probability of failure of Tetrapod armors in the future. A similar approach could be used for armor units other than Tetrapods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]