Random wave-induced scour at the trunk section of a breakwater

This paper provides a stochastic method by which the random wave-induced scour depth at the trunk section of vertical-wall and rubble-mound breakwaters can be derived. Here the formulas for regular wave-induced scour depth provided by Xie [Xie, S.L., 1981. Scouring patterns in front of vertical breakwaters and their influence on the stability of the foundations of the breakwaters.

Report. Department of Civil Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands, September, 61 pp.] for vertical-wall breakwater and Sumer and Fredsøe [Sumer, B.M., Fredsøe, J., 2000. Experimental study of 2D scour and its protection at a rubble-mound breakwater. Coast. Eng. 40, 59–87] for rubble-mound breakwater are used.

These formulas are combined with describing the waves as a stationary Gaussian narrow-band random process to derive the random wave-induced scour depth. Comparisons are made between the present method and the Sumer and Fredsøe [Sumer, B.M., Fredsøe, J., 2000. Experimental study of 2D scour and its protection at a rubble-mound breakwater.

Coast. Eng. 40, 59–87.] random wave scour data for rubble-mound breakwater, as well as the Hughes and Fowler [Hughes, S.A., Fowler, J.A., 1991. Wave-induced scour predictions at vertical walls. ASCE Proc. Conf. Coastal Sediments vol. 91, 1886–1899] random wave scour data and formula for vertical-wall breakwater.

A tentative approach to random wave-induced scour at a vertical impermeable submerged breakwater is also suggested.