Simulating Regular Wave Effects on a Pile-Moored Floating Breakwater Using a Modified WCSPH Method

Abstract

The hydrodynamic behavior of a rectangular pile-moored floating breakwater with 1 degree of freedom (DOF) is simulated using a weakly compressible smoothed particle hydrodynamic (WCSPH) scheme. The wave–structure interaction and related hydrodynamic forces were evaluated by solving a modified smoothed particle hydrodynamic–based equation derived to consider the boundary motions. In the modified equation, the effects of acceleration of fluid/solid particles were considered. To investigate the efficiency of the developed numerical model, two verification tests were performed on a square and a rectangular floating body with 3 DOFs (heave, sway, and roll motions), and the results were compared with available experimental data. Moreover, for simulating the hydrodynamic behavior of pile-moored floating breakwater, two test cases with different conditions were investigated. The hydrodynamic behavior of a typical floating breakwater and breakwater transmission, reflection coefficients, and dynamic response in heave motion were evaluated for different water-depth conditions and three draft values of the structure. The obtained results reveal that the proposed modifications in the boundary treatment can improve the accuracy of fluid–structure interaction in numerical models on the basis of the smoothed particle hydrodynamic scheme.