Numerical study of wave loads on a caisson-pile-deck composite structure over permeability seabed

Abstract

To get the accurate wave loads on wharf composite structure, the wave force on small-scale piles and the uplift force on lower surface of caisson must be considered. Based on the Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations, the pore media theory and the volume of fluid (VoF) method, a three-dimensional numerical model is established. The model has been developed to simulate wave interaction with a composite structure including caisson, piles and deck. The numerical results agree very well with the experimental data on total force. The spatial distributions of the non-dimensional wave height and the maximum of wave pressure on surface of composite structure are presented and discussed. The effects of relative caisson length, relative wave height and relative caisson height on horizontal wave force are given. The result indicates that the horizontal wave force achieves maximum value at the relative caisson length of 0.18 and increases linearly with the increase of the relative caisson and wave height. It is proved that the model is an accurate and efficient numerical tool to investigate different problems of wave-structure interaction.