Forces on Breakwaters and

Breakwater Design
Vertical breakwaters
Rubble mound breakwaters
Reference:
J . William Kamphuis (2000), Introduction to
Coastal Engineering and management,
World Scientific
Vertical Break Waters
Type of break waters
Concrete caisson
Seaward face
Fig. 1 Major component of a vertical breakwater: the Concrete caisson
Seaward face
Typical Failure Mechanisms
Fig. 2 Failure Modes
Forces for Non-Breaking Waves
Design philosophy
Breakwater has to be stable under the
maximum wave: H
des
= H
max
= K
max
H
s
(1)
p
d
p
b
p
u
p
d
= p
b
p
v
= p
b
+ p
u
Fig. 3 Force definitions
Forces on the seaward face:
hydrostatic force from the still water level;
hydrostatic force due to the wave generated water level rise
H
;
Force due to the standing wave against the wall (approximated as static force)
kd
k H
rms
H
coth
2
2
=
(2)
des sw
gH
kd
p
) cosh(
1
=
(3)
)
) cosh(
(
kd
H
d g p
des
H v
+ + =
(4)
Forces on the landward face:
hydrostatic force from the still water level;
gd p
d
=
(5)
Fig.4 Wave Force Definitions
Forces on the bottom of the caisson:
Buoyancy
uplift due to the seepage flow ;
Resultant Forces
des w H des w
H C H h = + =
(6)
des
H
w
H
C

+ =1
where
0 1 1
) ( p C H g p
H des
= + =
(7)
des
H
w
H
C C

+ = = 1
1
des
gH p =
0
and
where
Define:
Pressure at still water level:
0 2 1 2
) 1 ( p C p
h
f
p
w
v
= =
Pressure at the top of the structure:
w v
h f
(8)
if <
else 0
2
= p
and

=
w
v
h
f
C C 1
1 2
Pressure at the bottom of the structure:
0 3 3
) cosh(
1
p C
H kd
g p
des
H
=

+ =

+ =
des
H
H kd
C
) cosh(
1
3
where
(9)
The uplift pressure:
v b
gd p =
(10) and
0 3 3
p C p p
u
= =
The sum of horizontal forces:
v v h
f
p p
d
p p
F
2 2
2 1 3 1
+
+
+
=
(11)
The sum of vertical forces:
)
2
(
u
b v m v u b m v
p
p B F d F F F F + = =
(12)
Where F
m
is the weight of the structure
The overturning moment around the landward bottom corner:
3
)
3
(
2
)
2
(
3
) (
2
2
2 1
2
2
3 1
2
3 0
v
u
v
v v
v
v v
v v
B
p
f
d f
p p f
d f p
d
p p
d
p M + +

+ + + + =
(13)
The restoring moment around the landward bottom corner:
2 2
2
v
h
v
m r
B
p
B
F M =
(13)
Forces for Breaking Waves
Impact force due to
breaking waves is very
large but of very short
duration (slamming)
Should avoid building
structures in wave
breaking zone
How to consider the
impact of a breaking
wave?
Fig. 5 Impact force history
Minikin Method:
a parabolic pressure distribution centered on the still water level is assumed
Fig. 6 Minikin Wave Forces
des t s
s
t
d
gH d d
L d
d
p ) ( 100 + =
(14)

=
2
2 1 100
des
v w
des d d
H
f h
H p F
(15) for h
w
> f
v
des d d
H p F 100 =
(16) for h
w
f
v
v d d
d F M =
~
(17)
The structure based on this design will be very large and costly;
Method by Goda (2000) for breaking waves are used more often
Goda (2000) method is a pseudo-static design assuming wave breaking is a slow
process;
Godas method uses Fig. 4 with different definitions for the pressures
Non-Breaking Goda Minikin
C
w
1+
H
/H
des
0.75(1+cos ) 0.5
C
1
1+
H
/H
des
0.5(1+cos )(
1
+
4
cos
2
) 0.5/cosh(kd)
C
2
C
1
(1-f
v
/h
w
)
C
3
1/cosh(kd)+
H
/H
des

3
C
1
C
u
C
3
0.5(1+cos )
1

3
C
3

1
0.6+0.5((2d/k)/sinh(2d/k))
2

2
Min(((d
5H
-d
s
)/3d
5H
)(H
des
/d
t
)
2
, 2d
t
/H
des
)

3
1-((h
v
-f
v
)/d
s
(1-(1/cosh(d
s
/k))

4
Max(
2
, (
5

6
))
Table 1: Design parameters for vertical breakwaters (Goda method)
The other quantities in Godas method are given below:
Eq. (18)
Stability Design
Basics of risk analysis
Deterministic design
S R =
(19)
Where R is the resistance (or strength) of the structure, S is the design load
related to a certain return period T
R
and is the factor of safety.
Probability of failure
Limit state equation
S R G =
(20)
Where G is called the failure function. Eq. (20) is a design equation and
design equation fails if G < 0.
R = f
r
(R
1
, R
2
, R
3
, ., R
m
) and S = f
s
(S
1
, S
2
, S
3
, ., S
m
)
) 0 ( = G P P
r F
(21)
Probability of failure
Note G < 0 does not imply failure of structure and it is only a failure of the
design condition.
P
F
depends on all the factors that affect R and S
Levels of probabilistic design
Level III design considers actual probability density functions of all R
i
and S
i
and
perform a large number of calculations to determine P
F
;
Level II assumes normal distribution for all probability density functions and
perform the same calculations as in Level III to determine PF;
Level I design is similar to deterministic design but uses partial safety factors
taking into account the effects of the probability distributions and a target P
F
;
Level I design is often used
Level II Demonstration
0 = =
ch s
r
ch
S
R
G

Where R
ch
and S
ch
are characteristic values of resistance and load;
r
and
s
are
partial safety coefficients pertaining to resistance and load.
Assume R
ch
and S
ch
follow normal distributions with a mean value and a
standard deviation as:
(22)
Design Equation:
r r r ch
Z R + = (23)
s s s ch
Z S + = (24)
Where Z
r
and Z
s
denote the number of standard deviations that R
ch
and S
ch
are
removed from their means respectively.
describes how well or poorly we know R and S;
In conservative designs, Z
r
is normally negative and Z
s
positive;
For example, Z
r
= -1.64, R
ch
represents the resistance that is exceeded 95% of
the time by the structure to which Eq. (22) is applied.
Z
s
= 1.64, S
ch
represents the load that is exceeded 5% of the time.
The exceedence levels of the characteristic resistance R
ch
and load S
ch
corresponding to different Z
r
and Z
s
are given in the following table:
Exceedence Level for R
ch
(%) 90 95 98 99
Z
r
-1.28 -1.64 -2.05 -2.33
Exceedence Level for S
ch
(%) 10 5 2 1
Z
s
1.28 1.64 2.05 2.33

r
is often called the performance factor and
s
the load factor;
Eq. (22) can also be written as
ch ch s r ch
S S R = = ) (
(25)
Where =
r

s
is called the (global) factor of safety. Combination of Eq. (23) to
(25) results in:
) (
s s s r r r
Z Z + + =
(26)
If the probability functions (normal distribution) for resistance r and load s are:
] / ) (
2
1
exp[
2
1
) (
2 2
r r
r
r r p

=
(27)
] / ) (
2
1
exp[
2
1
) (
2 2
s s
s
s s p

=
(28)
Since the load and resistance distributions are independent of each other, the
probability of failure for the design condition, P
F
can be calculated as


= =
0 0 0
) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ds r P s p drds r p s p P
s F
(29)
Where Ps(r) is the cumulative distribution function of the resistance r at any
value of s.
Example 1: Level II design calculation
Determine the required strength of a structure for a characteristic load S
ch
.
Assume S
ch
has a mean value
s
= 80 kN and a standard deviation
s
= 18 kN.
The standard deviation of R
ch
is
r
= 20 kN.
One Single Distribution
To avoid the integration in Eq. (29), a single probability distribution has been
developed by combining the two probability distributions for r and s:
{ }

= 1 1
g
g
g
g
F
P (30)
Where
2 2
s r
s r
g
g

= =
(31)
s r g
=
2 2 2
s r g
+ = (32)
Where denotes the cumulative standard normal distribution function and can be
determined from published table or computed using expressions from Abramowitz
and Stegun (1965). One of the published tables is given below:
3
Encounter Probability
1 / 1
) ) 1 ( 1 (

=
L
N
E R
P T
(33)
Purpose: Determine probability of failure for a design condition during the lifetime
of a project (P
L
)
Encounter probability P
E
:
Where T
R
is the return periods in years, P
E
is the encounter probability and N
L
is
the project design life in years.
Lifetime probability of failure of the design condition may be computed from:
L
N
R
E
T
P )
1
1 ( 1 =
(34)
OR
F E L
P P P =
(35)
Example 2:
Determine the lifetime probability of failure for a structure designed for NL = 50
years with a wave height derived from a 50-year return period storm. Assume the
probability of failure P
F
is 0.111.
Level I Design
Most practical designs at the present time is Level I design;
Level I design uses Eq. (22) with values being formulated to take into account
the uncertainties and being derived from field experience and model studies, or
from Level II and Level III analyses;
Level I design expression is a pseudo-deterministic design formula that has a
level of safety based on available prototype and model information.
Example 3: Level I design example 1
Develop a level I design formula that uses the mean values of S and R as the
characteristic values and represents a design condition with an inherent target
P
F
= 0.1 and determine:
1. The lifetime probability of failure if the project design life is 50 years and the
expression with mean load based on a return period of 50 years;
2. The return period for the mean load if the life probability of failure is set at
0.001.
Use Level I design approach
For sliding:
Stability Design of Vertical
Breakwaters
0 ) (
) (
= +

d w w
s
u w b m f
F F
F F F f

(36)
Where f
f
is the friction coefficient between the structure and the sub-base,
s
and

w
are the partial coefficients for resistance against sliding and wave loading,
and F
d
is the dynamic force that only applies to the Minikin design.
the partial coefficients
s
= 1.3 and
w
=1.25 for P
F
= 0.01 are suggested based
on extensive Level II analysis of stability of existing vertical breakwaters and
breakwater models (Burcharth and Sorensen 1998);
Typical friction coefficients may be found in CERC (1984); for concrete on rock
or gravel f
f
= 0.6 and on sand f
f
= 0.4.
For overturning (around the landward bottom corner of the
structure):
0 )
~ ~ ~
(
)
~ ~
(
= + +

u d w w
O
b m f
M M M
M M f

(37)
Where
O
and
w
are the partial coefficients for resistance against overtuning and
wave loading;
the partial coefficients
O
= 1.3 and
w
=1.25 for P
F
= 0.01 are suggested based
on extensive Level II analysis of stability of existing vertical breakwaters and
breakwater models (Burcharth and Sorensen 1998);
Safety factors are a functionn of the quality of the available data;
The suggested safety coefficients can be reduced when model studies have
been performed;
It is possible to use different coefficients for design based on model study and
no model study.
Geotechnical Stability
The stress acting on the soil is transmitted through the granular rock berm at an
angle of approximately 45
o
;
Different soil stability analysis methods can be used to design for geotechnical
stability;
The simplest method is to calculate the stress on the column of soil below the
structure and compare it with a critical value;
Insert Fig. 9.7
The extreme stress at the harbour side of the soil column may be computed as:
2
~
6
2
~
c
c
c
v
c
c
c
c
v
c
B
M
B
F
I
B
M
B
F
+ = + =
(38)
B v c
d B B 2 + =
(39)
Where F
v
is the total vertical force, M
c
is the moment about the center of the top
of the soil column and I
c
is the moment of inertia of the soil column section.
The allowable soil pressure on a sandy bottom for a column of width B
c
may be
defined as a function of the blow count N
b
:
c b b
B N ) 006 . 0 00016 . 0 (
2
= (40)
(MPa)
Practice in J apan limits
b
to 0.6 MPa.
For structures placed on a rock berm, an additional allowable stress is present
by simply considering the berm as a surcharge of height d
B
:
3
) 047 . 0 026 . 0 (
2
B
b d
d
N + = (41)
(MPa)
The maximum allowable stress in the sandy soil is the sum of
b
and
d
.
Because the soil is underwater, the soil density is about half the density in air.
Therefore
) (
2
1
d b u
+ =
(42)
Other Design Considerations
The discussed design considers forces per unit length of the structure and the
total force is obtained by multiplying the force by the length of the structure.
This may be conservative as seldom the structure will be subjected to the
force simultaneously along its length, considering short-crested waves and
with waves arriving at an angle;
Wave transmission over the structure results in wave agitation behind the
structure and possibly in damage to ships and facilities in the habour. The
transmitted wave height can be estimated using (Goda 2000):
des
v
s
v
s
v T
H
f
d
d
d
d
H
H
32 . 0 58 . 0 ) ( 4 . 0 ) ( 2 . 0
2
+ = (42)
for
1 1 <
des
v
H
f
Where d
v
and f
v
must be related to the mean wave level for non-breaking
waves, H is the wave height and can be substituted by H
s
, and H
T
is the
transmitted wave height.
A usual limit on H
T
is 0.3m for small craft habours.
Design Example 1:Vertical
breakwater in 12 m of water with a
short fetch
Design a vertical breakwater in 12 m of water with a short fetch and a foreshore
slope m = 0.1.
Design conditions:
Hs = 1.2 m, Tp = 3.2 s, wave incidence = 0
o
and K
max
= 1.8;
Rock berm height 3 m; freeboard = 1 m;
Foundation: sand with N
b
= 20
Design Example 2:Vertical
Breakwater on an open coast
Design a vertical breakwater in 12 m of water on an open coast with a foreshore
slope m = 0.2.
Design conditions:
Deep water Hs = 6.9 m, Tp = 11.5 s, wave incidence = 30
o
and K
max
= 1.8;
Use Level I design expression with safety factors that approximate P
F
= 0.01 and
use P
E
= 0.1 or T
R
= 475 years.
Rubble Mound Breakwaters
Examples:
Fig. 9.8
Filter Requirements
) ( 5 ) (
85 15
layer lower D layer upper D <
(43)
The nominal armour unit diameter is defined as
3 / 1
50
) (
a
a
a
M
D D

= =
(44)
Where M
a
is the armour unit mass and
a
is the armour unit density.
The toe filter is necessary to prevent the base material being removed if the
breakwater is built on erodible material.
Rubble mound breakwaters consist of layers of stone with stone size increasing
from core to outside layers. To prevent the small size stones from being removed
through the openings of large stones in the outside layer, rubble mound
breakwaters are often built up like filters. A typical example of filter relationship to
prevent removal of the lower material through the upper layer is:
Rock Armour

cot
cot 1
3
3 3
a D
des a
a
D
des a
a
K
H
K
H
M

=
(45)
Where is the angle of the front slope of the structure with respect to horizontal.
K
D
is an empirically determined damage coefficient depending on the type of
armour, its shape, its location along the breakwater and the amount of damage
considered to be acceptable. Typical K
D
values for a double layer rough angular
stones, placed randomly in a double layer are shown below:
Stable rock armour mass can be calculated using the Hudson formula (CERC,
1984):
Non-Breaking Waves Breaking Waves
Structure Trunk 4.0 2.0
Structure Head 3.2 1.9
Table 4 Damage Coefficients for Rock with Zero Damage
Combining Eq. (44) and Eq. (45) and rearranging Eq. (45), one gets the stability
number:
3 / 1
) cot (
D
a a
des
s
K
D
H
N =

=
(46)
Van der Meer (1987) suggested the following expressions for the stability number:
For plunging breakers
5 . 0
2 . 0
18 . 0
2 . 6

=
m
w
a
b
a a
des
s
N
S
P
D
H
N
(47)
For surging breakers
b
P
m
w
a
b
a a
des
s
N
S
P
D
H
N cot
2 . 0
13 . 0

=

Where P
b
is the overall porosity of the breakwater. Van de Meer suggests
P
b
= 0.1 for an armour layer over an impermeable layer
(48)
P
b
= 0.4 for for armour over a filter or a coarse core.
Armour damage S
a
is defined as:
2
a
e
a
D
A
S =
(49)
Where A
e
is the erosion area in the breakwater profile between the still water +/-
one wave height. Van de Meer suggests S
a
= 2 is equivalent to zero damage and
S
a
= 15 for failure of the breakwater (the secondary layer becomes exposed).
The surf similarity parameter is defined as:
m
m
s

tan
=
(50)
Where s
m
is the mean wave steepness:
2
, 0
2
m
s
m
s
m
gT
H
L
H
s

= =
(51)
The transition from plunging to surging waves on the breakwater takes place at a
critical value of surf similarity parameter (Van de Meer):
) 5 . 0 /( 1 31 . 0
) tan 2 . 6 (
+
=
b
P
b mc
P
(52)
N
w
represents the number of times that the design condition is reached over the
design life of the structure. Van de Meer (1993) recommended that the maximum
value of N
w
= 7500 be used in design.
Concrete Armour
Concrete amour can be manufactured into various shapes to improve stability
through interlocking;
Typical KD values for zero damage of concrete armours are given in Table 5
5
Armour unit density
Increase of armour unit density will reduce the size of the armour unit;
Use of heavy aggregate such as blast furnace slag
Primary armour layer
On the seaward side, it is customary to extend the primary armour layer from the
breakwater crest down to about 1.5H
s
below the lowest water level;
Smaller armour units can be used below -1.5H
s
;
Primary armour is placed on the back of the breakwater down to the lowest water
level due to the possibility of wave overtopping;
The required armour layer thickness can be determined using:
a a a a
D k n r =
(52)
Where n
a
is the number of layers (usually taken as 2) and ka is a shape factor as
specified in Table 6.
The number of armour units required per unit length of the structure is:
2
) 1 (
a
a a a
a
D
e k n A
N

=
(54)
Where A
a
is the surface area to be covered by the armour units and e is the
porosity of the armour layer as specified in Table 6.
6
Breakwater crest
The crest of a rock armour breakwater is usually made up of the same rock as the
rest of the armour layer (normally three stones wide);
The crest of a breakwater with concrete units is often a monolithic cap unit that
can carry traffic and infrastructure;
There is often concentrated damage at the interface between the cap unit and the
armour units because the cap is impermeable;
The first estimate of the design crest elevation is the limit of the runup of the
largest wave, superposed on the highest water level;
Such an estimate is often too high for visual and economical reasons. Practical
design will reduce this elevation by allowing overtopping of the larger waves. The
actual breakwater crest elevation is determined by considering many factors such
as safety in the harbour, navigation requirement, costs, etc..
Possible breakwater settlements after construction have to be taken into account
in determining the crest elevation;
A simple estimate of vertical runup height above still water level is recommended
(Van de Meer 1993):
2 5 . 1
% 2
< =
p p f
s
for r
H
R

(55)
2 3
% 2
=
p f
s
for r
H
R

Where R
2%
is the runup exceeded by 2% of the waves, r
f
is a factor which takes into
account friction, any horizontal berm sections in the front face, the angle of
approach and whether the waves are short crested. The surf similarity parameter
p
is based on the peak period of the wave spectrum.
r
f
= 0.5 for a simple rock breakwater with waves coming normal to the front face;
r
f
= 0.45 for Dolos units;
r
f
= 1.0 for a smooth slope;
For the usual short crested waves r
f
may be reduced by incident wave angle. This
can be achieved by multiplying r
f
with a factor that is reduced linearly from 1.0 at 0
o
to 0.8 at 90
o
.
Forces on offshore structures
Slender objects (D/L < 0.2)
Piles, pipeline, risers and cables
Flow separation and vortex shedding dominate the
forces on slender objects
Forces on a cylinder in steady current
Forces on a cylinder in regular waves
Little effect on waves
Large objects (D/L > 0.2)
Flow separation insignificant
Significant effect on waves;
Wave diffraction becomes important
Reference
Sumer, B. M. and Fredsoe, J. (1997)
Hydrodynamics around cylindrical
structures, World Scientific
Sarpkaya, T. and Isaacson, M. (1981),
Mechanics of wave forces on offshore
structures, Van Nostrand Reinhold
Company
Forces on a slender cylinder in
steady current
Flow around a cylinder exerts a force on the cylinder.
The in-line (same as flow direction) component of the force is termed Drag
The cross-flow (or transverse) component is called Lift
Lift
Drag
D
U
Vortex Shedding -Phenomenon
Vortex Shedding -Phenomenon
Vortex Shedding -Forces
Time history of the lift
coefficient
-3
-2
-1
0
1
2
3
0 20 40 60 80
Time
C
L
H-type grid
HOH-type grid
Time history of the drag
coefficient
0
0.4
0.8
1.2
1.6
2
0 20 40 60 80
Time
C
D
H-type grid
HOH-type grid
The mean drag and lift are often evaluated using the following formulae in
engineering:
2
2
1
DU C F
D D
=
2
2
1
DU C F
L L
=
The drag and lift coefficients (C
D
and C
L
) depend on
Reynolds number (Re=UD/)
Shape of the cylinder
Cylinder surface roughness
Turbulence intensity of the incoming flow
proximity of other objects
Angle of attack
etc.
Flow Regimes
Vortex Shedding -Mechanism
Boundary layer
Flow separation
Interaction of vortices
Vortex Shedding -Forces
Vortex shedding produces oscillating forces
(drag and lift) on cylinder
Drag
Same direction as flow
Non-zero mean
Small oscillation amplitude but twice as fast as lift
Lift
Transverse direction to flow
Zero mean
Larger oscillation amplitude
Constant frequency
Vortex Shedding Frequency
Normalized vortex shedding frequency is often used in practice and referred to
as Strouhal number:
U
D f
S
v
t
=
Where f
v
is the shedding frequency, D is the diameter of the cylinder and U is
the flow velocity.
Stroughal number is found to depend on Reynolds number, roughness,
cross-section shape, incoming flow turbulence, shear of incoming flow, wall
proximity etc..
Effect of Reynolds Number
Example 9.1
Calculate vortex shedding frequency around a pipeline of 0.5 m diameter, subject to
a uniform current of 0.8 m/s. Assume a smooth pipe.
Effect of Surface Roughness
Effect of Cross-Section Shape
Effect of Wall Proximity
Vortex shedding is suppressed when e/D
is less than 0.2
Vortex shedding frequency increases
slightly as the gap ratio decreases.
Mean drag on a circular cylinder
Effect of surface roughness
Effect of cross-sectional shape
Effect of cross-sectional shape
Effect of cross-sectional shape
Effect of angle of attack
Oscillating drag and lift
The drag and lift on a cylinder in steady current are oscillating at regular frequencies
due to vortex shedding
Magnitudes of the force oscillations are represented by the corresponding RMS
values of force oscillations
The frequency of the force oscillations is often described by the so-called Strouhal
number
The oscillating forces are responsible for vortex-induced vibrations (VIV)
2 ' '
2
1
DU C F
D D
=
2 ' '
2
1
DU C F
L L
=
U
D f
S
v
t
=
RMS forces
Strouhal number
Effect of Wall Proximity
Vortex shedding is suppressed for e/D
<0.2- 0.3
The stagnation points moves to a lower
angular location
Separation points shift anti-clock wise
Impacts on hydrodynamic forces
Wall Effect on Drag and Lift
2
2
1
a D D
DU C F =
Where U
a
is velocity at
the same elevation as
the pipe center above
the seabed.
2
2
1
a L L
DU C F =
2
2
1
DU C F
L L
=
2
2
1
DU C F
L L
=
Fredsoe et al. (1985)
Example 9.2
Calculate the total drag on a pipeline of 1m in diameter laid on the seabed if the gap
between the pipe and the seabed is 3 m, 1 m, 0.3 m and 0. The pipeline subject to a
steady current of 0.77 m/s at 1 m above the seabed. The angle between the
direction of the current and the pipeline is 72
o
. The water depth is 15 m.
Forces on a cylinder in regular
waves
dt
dU
A C U DU C F
M D
+ =
2
1
The Morison equation for in-line force on a stationary cylinder:
Where A is the cross-sectional area of the cylinder; C
M
(= C
a
+1) is the inertia
coefficient and C
a
is the hydrodynamic mass coefficient
The Morison equation for in-line force on a moving cylinder:
dt
dU
A C
dt
dU
A C U U U U D C F
b
a M b b D
+ = ) (
2
1
Where U
b
is the velocity of the cylinder in the in-line direction.
Keulegan Karpenter number (KC number):
D
T U
KC
w m
=
Where U
m
is the maximum orbital velocity of water particles and T
w
is the wave
period
Hydrodynamic Mass
Hydrodynamic mass (added mass) is defined as the mass of the fluid around an
object which is accelerated with the acceleration of the object
Hydrodynamic mass is caused due to the relative acceleration between the
object and the fluid
Hydrodynamic mass can be determined by the integration of pressure around
the object and is often expressed by:
V C m
a
=
Where C
a
is the hydrodynamic mass coefficient and V is the volume of the object.
Example 9.3
Estimate the total force required to accelerate a long circular cylinder of diameter
D through still water of density of ?
Drag versus Inertia Force for a
Circular Cylinder
Drag and inertia force are 90
o
out of phase
The ratio between inertia force and drag force on a circular cylinder is
D
M
drag
inertia
C
C
KC F
F
2

=
Inertia dominates the drag for small KC number but drag dominates for large KC
number.
Measurements of Drag and Inertia
Experiments often can only measure total in-line forces rather than drag and
inertia force separately due to technical reasons
Drag and inertia force can be separated by utilizing the fact that they are 90
o
out
of phase
Let F
m
(t) be a time series of measured in-line force induced by a sinusoidal flow.
One can get the following force coefficients by using the least square method:
) ( ) cos( ) cos(
1
3
8
2
0
2
t d t t F
DU
C
m
m
D

=
) ( ) sin(
1 2
2
0
2 3
t d t F
DU
KC
C
m
m
M

=
Where Um is the amplitude of oscillating velocity and is the angular frequency
of the sinusoidal flow
Lift on a cylinder in oscillatory flow
Lift often oscillates at a different frequency
from that of the oscillatory flow
The magnitude and frequency of the lift
oscillations are important for design
2
max max
2
1
m L L
DU C F =
2
2
1
m Lrms Lrms
DU C F =
Lrms L
C C 2
max
=
Force coefficients for a smooth
circular cylinder
Effect of roughness
Effect of roughness
Angle of attack
The maximum lift coefficient
Effect of Wall Proximity Waves
Breaking wave impact
Special attention needed if the structure is
within wave breaking zone;
Impact forces due to wave breaking could
be very high (2-3 times as high as for a
vertical pile)
Refer to the studies done on different
types of structures
Comments
Most of the data given previously were
derived from lab tests of a plane oscillatory
flows
The use of plane oscillatory flows to
approximate motions by real waves tends
to overestimate the forces
The over-prediction is not significant and
acceptable in the design
Example 9.4
Calculate the total inline force on a pipeline of 1m in diameter laid on the seabed if
the gap between the pipe and the seabed is 0.0. Plot the time dependent total
inline force, drag component and inertia component of the total inline force
respectively. The pipeline subject to a monochromatic wave of H = 2.44 m and
T = 8 s. The angle between the direction of the wave propagation and the
pipeline is 90o. The water depth is 15 m.
Wave Forces on Large Bodies
Vortex shedding is the major mechanism
of hydrodynamic forces on small cylinders
Wave diffraction is the major mechanism
for forces on large objects
Diffraction effect is considered important
when D/L > 0.2 (Isaacson 1979), where D
is the characteristic dimension of the
structure and L is the wave length