Wave Propagation in Channel with Side Porous Caves

Abstract

A three-dimensional numerical solution was developed to determine the wave field in a narrow channel with side porous caves. The solution was achieved by applying the boundary element method. The model was applied to determine the effect of the geometry of caves and the physical and hydraulic properties of the porous material in the caves on the wave field in the channel. The results show that the cave geometry and the physical and hydraulic properties of porous material in the cave have a significant effect on the wave field in a channel. Wave transmission down the channel usually decreases with increasing cave length and cave width and decreases with increasing porosity. Moreover, wave transmission usually decreases with increasing wave-damping properties for porous material of low damping properties and increases with increasing wave-damping properties for porous material of high damping properties. A reduction of wave transmission down the channel, often substantial, can usually be achieved by increasing the porosity and increasing the wave-damping properties of the porous material. The results and additional analysis show that a reasonable wave transmission level can be achieved even for fairly short porous caves and that the model can be applied to select an optimal cave system for any prespecified conditions. Theoretical results are found to be in reasonable agreement with experimental data.