Numerical Investigation of Wave Transmission Characteristics Over Submerged Breakwater
Downloads
This study presents a three-dimensional numerical investigation of wave transmission over submerged breakwaters, with a focus on elucidating the role of structural permeability in wave energy dissipation. High-resolution simulations were conducted using FLOW-3D and rigorously validated against laboratory measurements reported by van Gent et al. (2023). The results show that permeable submerged breakwaters consistently yield lower wave transmission coefficients than impermeable configurations due to enhanced internal turbulence and porous-flow energy dissipation mechanisms. Building on the validated numerical database, a refined empirical wave transmission model is developed. Compared to the widely used formulation of van Gent et al. (2023), the proposed model reduces the root mean square error from approximately 0.045 to 0.022 while maintaining a high coefficient of determination (R² = 0.96). The improvement is most pronounced for moderate to high relative freeboard conditions, where existing models tend to underestimate transmission. A comprehensive parametric analysis further quantifies the influence of crest width, relative freeboard, and porosity on transmission behavior. The key scientific contribution of this study lies in establishing a validated numerical–empirical framework that explicitly captures three-dimensional turbulence–porosity interactions, enabling faster and more accurate prediction of wave transmission and providing a scalable alternative to extensive physical modeling for the design of submerged and reef-type breakwaters.
Downloads
[1] Field, C., Fischlin, A., Fitzharris, B. B., Gay García, C., Hanson, C., Harasawa, H., Hennessy, K., Huq, S., Jones, R., Kajfež Bogataj, L., Karoly, D., Klein, R.,…. (2007). Coastal systems and low-lying areas. Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
[2] Rueda, A., Vitousek, S., Camus, P., Tomás, A., Espejo, A., Losada, I. J., Barnard, P. L., Erikson, L. H., Ruggiero, P., Reguero, B. G., & Mendez, F. J. (2017). A global classification of coastal flood hazard climates associated with large-scale oceanographic forcing /704/106/829/2737 /704/4111 /141 /129 article. Scientific Reports, 7(1), 5038. doi:10.1038/s41598-017-05090-w.
[3] Ben-Natan, A., & Shashar, N. (2025). A Short Review of Strategies for Augmenting Organism Recruitment on Coastal Defense Structures. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, 13(1), 95. doi:10.3390/jmse13010095.
[4] Morris, R. L., Konlechner, T. M., Ghisalberti, M., & Swearer, S. E. (2018). From grey to green: Efficacy of eco-engineering solutions for nature-based coastal defence. Global Change Biology, 24(5), 1827–1842. doi:10.1111/gcb.14063.
[5] Brancasi, A., Leone, E., Francone, A., Scaravaglione, G., & Tomasicchio, G. R. (2022). On Formulae for Wave Transmission at Submerged and Low-Crested Breakwaters. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, 10(12), 1986. doi:10.3390/jmse10121986.
[6] Daemen, I. F. R. (1991). Wave Transmission at Low-Crested Structures. University of Technology, Delft Hydraulics, Delft, The Netherlands.
[7] Wang, Y., Wu, Y., Liu, Q., & Wang, X. (2023). Nature-based Solutions (NbS) Habitat Design Practices and Technical Measures for Urban Waterfront Areas. Journal of Civil Engineering and Urban Planning, 5(12), 67-72. doi:10.23977/jceup.2023.051210.
[8] Cohn, J. L., Copp Franz, S., Mandel, R. H., Nack, C. C., Brainard, A. S., Eallonardo, A., & Magar, V. (2022). Strategies to work towards long-term sustainability and resiliency of nature-based solutions in coastal environments: A review and case studies. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management, 18(1), 123–134. doi:10.1002/ieam.4484.
[9] Van Der Meer, J. W., Briganti, R., Wang, B., & Zanuttigh, B. (2005). Wave Transmission at Low-Crested Structures, Including Oblique Wave Attack. Coastal Engineering 2004, 4152–4164. doi:10.1142/9789812701916_0335.
[10] d’Angremond, K., Van Der Meer, J. W., & De Jong, R. J. (1997). Wave Transmission at Low-Crested Structures. Coastal Engineering 1996, 2418–2427. doi:10.1061/9780784402429.187.
[11] Goda, Y., & Ahrens, J. P. (2009). New Formulation of Wave Transmission Over and Through Low-Crested Structures. Coastal Engineering 2008, 3530–3541. doi:10.1142/9789814277426_0293.
[12] Demirbilek, Z., Nwogu, O. G., Ward, D. L., & Sánchez, A. (2009). Wave transformation over reefs: Evaluation of one-dimensional numerical models. No. ERDCCHLTR091, U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, Vicksburg, United States.
[13] van Gent, M. R. A., Buis, L., van den Bos, J. P., & Wüthrich, D. (2023). Wave transmission at submerged coastal structures and artificial reefs. Coastal Engineering, 184, 104344. doi:10.1016/j.coastaleng.2023.104344.
[14] Flow Science, Inc. (2008). User Manual FLOW-3D. Flow Science, Inc, Pasadena, United States.
[15] Memmola, F., Contestabile, P., Falco, P., & Brocchini, M. (2024). Test Reference Year for wave energy studies: Generation and validation. Renewable Energy, 224, 120169. doi:10.1016/j.renene.2024.120169.
[16] Le Xuan, T., Vu, H. T. D., Oberle, P., Dang, T. D., Tran Ba, H., & Le Manh, H. (2024). Hydrodynamics and wave transmission through a hollow triangle breakwater. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 302, 108765. doi:10.1016/j.ecss.2024.108765.
[17] Sollitt, C. K., & Cross, R. H. (1972). Wave transmission through permeable breakwaters. Coastal Engineering 1972, 1827-1846. doi:10.1061/9780872620490.106.
[18] Kurdistani, S. M., Tomasicchio, G. R., D′Alessandro, F., & Francone, A. (2022). Formula for wave transmission at submerged homogeneous porous breakwaters. Ocean Engineering, 266, 113053. doi:10.1016/j.oceaneng.2022.113053.
[19] Hirt, C. W., & Nichols, B. D. (1981). Volume of fluid (VOF) method for the dynamics of free boundaries. Journal of Computational Physics, 39(1), 201–225. doi:10.1016/0021-9991(81)90145-5.
[20] Jensen, B., Jacobsen, N. G., & Christensen, E. D. (2014). Investigations on the porous media equations and resistance coefficients for coastal structures. Coastal Engineering, 84, 56–72. doi:10.1016/j.coastaleng.2013.11.004.
[21] Feichtner, A., Mackay, E., Tabor, G., Thies, P. R., Johanning, L., & Ning, D. (2021). Using a porous-media approach for CFD modelling of wave interaction with thin perforated structures. Journal of Ocean Engineering and Marine Energy, 7(1), 1–23. doi:10.1007/s40722-020-00183-7.
[22] Setyandito, O., Aslami, M. H., Anda, M., & Kristanti, R. A. (2023). Wave transmission at low-crested structures. E3S Web of Conferences, 429. doi:10.1051/e3sconf/202342902008.
[23] Yuniardi, R., Istiyanto, D. C., Wulandari, I., Harita, Y. T. D., Firmansyah, R., & Rachman, R. A. (2025). Comparison of Laminar, RNG, and LES Model for Wave Propagation Simulation with FLOW-3D. Journal of Geoscience, Engineering, Environment, and Technology, 10(3), 288–294. doi:10.25299/jgeet.2025.10.3.13933.
[24] Zhang, C., & Buldakov, E. (2025). Evaluating RANS and LES turbulence models in hybrid wave modelling of breaking waves. Frontiers in Marine Science, 12. doi:10.3389/fmars.2025.1484783.
[25] Linh, L. C., & Tri, M. C. (2023). Evaluating the performance of the RANS turbulence models for simulating wave propagation over a submerged breakwater using openfoam. Journal of Science and Technology in Civil Engineering (STCE) - HUCE, 17(1), 79–93. doi:10.31814/stce.nuce2023-17(1)-07.
[26] Didier, E., & Teixeira, P. R. F. (2022). Validation and Comparisons of Methodologies Implemented in a RANS-VoF Numerical Model for Applications to Coastal Structures. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, 10(9), 1298. doi:10.3390/jmse10091298.
[27] Min, E. H., Koo, W., & Kim, M. H. (2023). Wave Characteristics over a Dual Porous Submerged Breakwater Using a Fully Nonlinear Numerical Wave Tank with a Porous Domain. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, 11(9), 1648. doi:10.3390/jmse11091648.
[28] Huang, J., Lowe, R. J., Ghisalberti, M., & Hansen, J. E. (2024). Wave transformation across impermeable and porous artificial reefs. Coastal Engineering, 189, 104488. doi:10.1016/j.coastaleng.2024.104488.
[29] Jaffar Sidek, F., & Abdul Wahab, M. A.-J. (2018). the Effects of Porosity of Submerged Breakwater Structures on Non-Breaking Wave Transformations. Malaysian Journal of Civil Engineering, 19(1), 15744. doi:10.11113/mjce.v19.15744.
- Authors retain all copyrights. It is noticeable that authors will not be forced to sign any copyright transfer agreements.
- This work (including HTML and PDF Files) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
