Reflection of irregular waves from perforated-wall caisson breakwaters

An analytical model has been developed that predicts the reflection of irregular waves normally incident upon a perforated-wall caisson breakwater. To examine the predictability of the developed model, laboratory experiments have been conducted for the reflection of irregular waves of various significant wave heights and periods impinging upon breakwaters having various wave chamber widths. For frequency-averaged reflection coefficients, though the overall agreement is fairly good between measurement and calculation, the model somewhat over-predicts the reflection coefficients at larger values, and under-predicts at smaller values. The model also underestimates the energy loss coefficients as wave reflection becomes larger. These differences occur because the model neglects the evanescent waves near the break-water, which increase the energy loss at the perforated wall. The frequency-averaged reflection coefficient shows a minimum when the wave chamber width is approximately 0.2 times the significant wavelength, and it decreases with increasing wave steepness. Finally, it is shown that the reflection of irregular waves from a perforated-wall caisson breakwater depends on the wave frequency, so that the reflected wave spectrum shows a frequency dependent oscillatory behavior. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.