EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON A NEW KIND OF OPEN TYPE BREAKWATERS

A new kind of open type breakwaters was proposed based on the concept of wave energy conversion. The excellent feature of the structure is that it can absorb and utilize the wave energy to dissipate waves. The effects of some factors, such as the configuration insides, the geometrical parameters and the relative width (the ratio of the width to the wave length), on the performance of the breakwater were discussed based on a series of regular wave tests in the wave flume. The hydrodynamic characteristics of the new open type breakwater were analyzed in detail, and the structure was optimized to improve the performance of the breakwater to effectively dissipate the waves with long period. The variation of the coefficients of wave transmission and reflection along with attenuation with respect to relative width was examined. The results of the physical model tests indicate that the transmission coefficient significantly decreases by about twenty percent at the range of relative width from 0.1 to 0.2, compared with the traditional open type breakwaters.