Abstract
Port and Harbor is the main marine infrastructure for import and export activity. The harbor must be tranquil for efficient loading and unloading operations. Conventional breakwaters, mostly rubble mound, are used at the inner face of the harbor for dissipating the wave energy penetrating and thus, keeping tranquil conditions inside the harbor. Unfortunately, rubble mound is a sloped structure and hence occupy significant part of the harbor area. Permeable slotted barriers maybe a suitable solution, however, detailed investigation is needed to assess their suitability for wave energy dissipation. The main objective of this study to is to investigate the effect of porosity with increasing number of slotted barriers configurations on reflection coefficient (K-r). Experimental work was done with one to six rows of slotted barriers and compared with benchmark models of artificial breakwaters (Rubble mound, DOLAS and SEE BEA). The scale of 1 : 10 was chosen to fabricate the physical model required for experimental work. Hydraulic model tests were carried out in a two-dimensional wave flume at the hydraulics lab, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, Kuwait. Porosities of 10%, 20% and 30% were used in the tests of the proposed fabricated breakwater models that were subjected to both regular and random waves of varying wave height and wave period to cover up prototype conditions surrounded Arabian Gulf area. Data collected during tests were analyzed for the determination of reflection coefficient (K-r) and hence, estimating the dissipation coefficient (K-d). For 10% porosity, one or two slotted walls are sufficient in case of short waves whereas it can go up to three walls for long waves to keep minimum reflection coefficient (K-r) range within 0.4 to 0.55. For 20% porosity, it is similar to 10% porosity for short waves but it may be needed up to four to five walls to keep minimum K-r range within 0.2 to 0.4. In case with 30% porosity, two to three walls are sufficient for short waves whereas four to five walls are needed to keep minimum K-r values in the range between 0.15 to 0.3. Also, it is found that the reflection coefficient (K-r) values for five and six slotted walls do not change with wide range relative water depth (d/L) values.