Experimental study of breaking wave loads on elevated pile cap with rectangular cross-section

Abstract

Elevated pile caps are always located close to the still-water level, where breaking waves can induce great impact loads and threaten the structural stability of bridges. This paper focuses on the interaction between breaking waves and an elevated pile cap with a rectangular cross-section. An elevated cap specimen under three breaking wave conditions was employed in the experimental program. The breaking wave loads, including the resulting horizontal and vertical loads, overturning moments, and water pressures exerted on the specimen, were measured simultaneously. The effects of clearance, breaker location, and structural orientation on the breaking wave loads were investigated, and a probabilistic description of breaking wave load was presented. The results show that with increasing clearance, the horizontal breaking wave load and overturning moment increased, while the vertical load decreased when the specimen was above the still-water level. The maximum horizontal wave load was observed when the specimen was located at the breaker tongue of the wave crest. The magnitude of the maximum horizontal and vertical load varied with structural orientations of the elevated pile cap. GEV distribution is effective in modeling the stochastic maximum horizontal and vertical breaking wave load.