Numerical Study of Solitary Wave Interaction with a Submerged Slotted Barrier

Abstract

We study the interaction between an isolated solitary wave and an underwater slotted barrier numerically. With the advantages on enhancing water circulations and sediment movements, the slotted barrier is considerably more cost effective and less environmental impact than the conventional hard structures. The numerical results are calculated by a two-dimensional volume of fluid (VOF)-type model which solves the Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations and the nonlinear k-e turbulence closure model. We discuss the effect of porosity and vertical locations of slotted barrier on the free surface elevation, velocity and vorticity fields. Then, the attentions also paid on tracing the trajectories of fluid particles around the object to help understand possible sediment movements for suspended loads and on evaluating the wave reflection, transmission, and dissipation coefficients using the energy integral method.