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Hydrodynamic Performance of Air-Filled Wave Attenuator for Wave Control: Experimental Study

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Abstract

Numerous types of floating breakwaters have been proposed, tested and commercialized in the past decades. The majority of these breakwaters are made of solid bodies; hence, they are relatively bulky and are not readily to be rapidly installed at the targeted sites when immediate wave protection of the coastal and offshore facilities is needed. Furthermore, the application of these hard floating structures at the recreational beaches is rather unlikely due to potential deadly marine traffic collision. To overcome these problems, a flexible air-filled wave attenuator (AFWA) has been developed in the present study. This floating breakwater is made of flexible waterproof membrane materials. The main body consists of a rectangular air-filled prism and is ballasted by sandbags located around the floating module. The objective of this study is to evaluate the wave transmission, wave reflection, energy dissipation, motion responses and mooring forces of the AFWA under the random wave actions using physical modelling. The test model located in a 20 m long wave flume was subjected to a range of wave heights and periods. The wave profiles in the vicinity of the test model were measured using wave probes for determination of wave transmission, reflection and energy loss coefficients. The motion responses in terms of heave, surge and pitch, and wave forces acting on the mooring lines were measured using a motion tracking system and load cells, respectively. The experimental results reveal that the AFWA is effective in attenuating up to 95% in the incoming wave height and has low-wave-reflection properties, which is commendable for floating breakwaters.

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Acknowledgment

The authors would like to acknowledge the technical assistance from the research team — Meor Asniwan bin Mew Ghazali, Zaid Zainuddin, Liyana Azizan, Hadri Che Hassan, and Yau Wen Jau for their kind assistance over the period of the project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Seri Iskandar, Perak, 32610, Malaysia

    Eric Joseph Pereira  (佩雷拉·埃里克·约瑟夫) & Hee-Min Teh  (郑希铭)

  2. Centre of Urban Resource Sustainability, Institute of Self-Sustainable Building, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Seri Iskandar, Perak, 32610, Malaysia

    Hee-Min Teh  (郑希铭)

  3. State Key Laboratory of Coastal and Offshore Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, Liaoning, 116024, China

    Zhe Ma  (马 哲)

Authors
  1. Eric Joseph Pereira  (佩雷拉·埃里克·约瑟夫)
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  2. Hee-Min Teh  (郑希铭)
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  3. Zhe Ma  (马 哲)
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hee-Min Teh  (郑希铭).

Additional information

Foundation item: the Project by Yayasan Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (No. 0153AA-E95)

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Pereira, E.J., Teh, HM. & Ma, Z. Hydrodynamic Performance of Air-Filled Wave Attenuator for Wave Control: Experimental Study. J. Shanghai Jiaotong Univ. (Sci.) 27, 316–325 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12204-022-2444-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12204-022-2444-3

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