Calibration of Load and Resistance Factors for Breakwater Foundation Design. Application on Different Types of Superstructures

Abstract

Load and resistance factor design is an efficient design approach that provides a system of consistent design solutions. This study aims to determine the load and resistance factors needed for the design of breakwater foundations within a probabilistic framework. In the study, four typical types of Korean breakwaters, namely, rubble mound breakwaters, vertical composite caisson breakwaters, perforated caisson breakwaters, and horizontal composite breakwaters, are investigated. The bearing capacity of breakwater foundations under wave loading conditions is thoroughly examined. Two levels of the target reliability index (RI) of 2.5 and 3.0 are selected to implement the load and resistance factors calibration using Monte Carlo simulations with 100,000 cycles. The normalized resistance factors are found to be lower for the higher target RI as expected. Their ranges are from 0.668 to 0.687 for the target RI of 2.5 and from 0.576 to 0.634 for the target RI of 3.0.