Storm Wave Forces on Selected Prototype Coastal Bridges on the Island of Oahu

Submitted to: Hawaii Department of Transportation Coastal Bridge and Port Vulnerability to Tsunami and Storm Surge Project Project No: DOT-08-004, TA 2009-1RHydrodynamic study of storm wave loads on four selected coastal bridges (prototype scale) around the Island of Oahu is presented here. These include NewMakaha Stream bridge, New South Punaluu Stream bridge, Maili Stream (Maipalaoa) bridge and Kahaluu Stream bridge on the Island of Oahu. Maximum water level at the location of the selected bridges is determined under extreme conditions of a Category 5 Hurricane making landfall on the island. The maximum wave height and wave period are estimated theoretically based on the highest water level. Several different scenarios are considered for each of the selected bridges. The wave loads on the bridges are calculated by use of several theoretical methods. One is based on Euler’s equations coupled with the Volume of Fluid method, for which OpenFOAM, an open access computational fluid dynamics (CFD) package is used to perform the computations, and another one is based on the Green-Naghdi (Level I) nonlinear shallow water wave equations, and is applied to the cases in which the bridge is fully submerged. Existing theoretical and empirical relations, including the Long-Wave Approximation for a fully submerged bridge, developed based on the linear potential theory, and the empirical relations for an elevated bridge deck are also used. Re- sults are compared with each other. The condition that results in the maximum wave forces for each of the bridges is summarized at the end of the report.This work is partially based on funding from State of Hawaii’s Department of Transportation (HDOT) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), grant numbers DOT-08-004, TA 2009-1R. Any findings and opinions contained in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the funding agency

Moored elastic sheets under the action of nonlinear waves and current

This study is concerned with the interaction between nonlinear water waves and uniform current with moored, floating elastic sheets, resembling floating solar panels, floating airports, tunnels and bridges, and floating energy systems. The Green-Naghdi theory is applied for the nonlinear wave-current motion, the thin plate theory is used to determine the deformations of the elastic sheet and Hooke’s law defines the effect of the mooring lines. The horizontal displacement of the floating sheet is determined by substituting the forces induced by the fluid flow and the tensions generated in the mooring lines into the equations of motion of the floating body. The resulting governing equations, boundary and matching conditions are solved in two dimensions with a finite-difference technique. The results are compared with the available numerical data. Overall, very good agreement is observed. In the model developed here, the sheet is allowed to drift due to the wave-current impact, and hence the mooring lines partially restrict both deformation and the horizontal motions of the sheet. The influence of the mooring lines on the dynamics of the floating sheet is assessed in terms of wave- and current-induced elastic deformations and surge movements of the sheet. It is demonstrated that the mooring lines attached to the leading and trailing edges of the sheet can be highly effective in mitigating the horizontal oscillations and vertical elastic deformations of the floating sheet subjected to the wave and current actions. Special attention is given to the horizontal periodic motions of the sheet, which are analysed by use of a Fourier transform technique. It is shown that the moored elastic sheet can oscillate at a frequency different from its exciting frequency as a result of restoring forces from the mooring lines, exciting resonance when both frequencies meet. Extensive study in a broad range of sheet parameters, mooring stiffnesses and wave-current conditions established the location of resonant regimes of different configurations of the moored systems. Analysis of wave reflection and transmission coefficient revealed that mooring lines of increasing stiffness intensify the wave reflection and, consequently, result in smaller energy transformation downwave