Three-dimensional numerical simulation on the interaction of solitary waves and porous breakwaters

Abstract A three-dimensional (3D) large-eddy-simulation model with macroscopic model equations of porous flow is proposed to investigate solitary waves interacting with permeable breakwaters. The major objective of this paper is twofold. First, we seek to evaluate the present model through the comparison with available simulated and measured data in the literature. The second aim, given the 3D nature of flow past a permeable breakwater, the variations of permeable breakwater modeled on both macroscopic and microscopic scales are examined. First validation is carried out with experiments on solitary wave propagation in a 3D wave basin and then runup on a vertical permeable breakwater with a gap in the lateral direction. A satisfactory agreement on the free surface elevation time series is obtained between model and measured results. Second, we replicate the experiments on a solitary wave interaction with a submerged permeable breakwater in a two-dimensional narrow wave flume. The porous medium is composed of spheres with a uniform size and arranged in a non-staggered regular pattern such that the porous medium can thus be modeled on macroscopic and microscopic scales. The numerical calculations indicate that the results obtained with macroscopic and microscopic modeling both fit the measurements fairly well in terms of the free surface elevations and velocity fields. Specifically, the microscopic modeling better simulates detailed phenomena such as flow injection from the porous medium and the initial stage of the formation of the main vortex in the leeward face of the obstacle. After the solitary wave completely propagates over the permeable object, the discrepancies between macroscopic and microscopic model results are insignificant. More accurate 3D results are used to determine the trajectories of fluid particles around the porous object to help understand the possible sediment movements in suspensions.