A Study on the Interlocking Performance of Open-sell Caissons by a Structural Experiment

Abstract

Recently a risk management has been in the spotlight to respond abnormally high waves during the storm surge due to climate change, various technologies on the design and the construction have been proposed for interlocking adjacent caissons to enhance stability of harbor structures. One of them is a technology with an open-cell caisson using filling materials. It has a interlocking part called an inter-cell which consist of shear walls, and its shear resistance is essential for securing stability against horizontal waves. In the present study, large-scaled structural experiments for open-cell caisson breakwaters with varying load according to the incidence angle of wave and phase were carried out and were confirmed the sliding stability on the five caissons fabricated of 1/10 scale. Test results showed the open-cell caisson breakwater specimen has a resistance performance up to 1.8 times compared to the conventional caisson breakwater. It was confirmed that they can improve the structural safety by the interlocking effect in the real sea with the multi-directional irregular waves.