Experimental study on wave forces acting on a structure installed on a submerged breakwater

Recently, artificial rocks, instead of buoys, have been installed at corners of the submerged breakwater to indicate its location. The accurate estimation of wave forces on such rocks is deemed necessary for their stability design. Characteristics of the wave force, however, are expected to be very complicated because of breaking or post-breaking waves attack, besides its shape complexity. In this regard, wave forces on an artificial rock on the submerged breakwater have been investigated in this paper. Maximum wave force has been found to depend significantly on the location of the artificial rock and its shape. In the vicinity of the leading crown edge, the plunging breaker attacks the rock, which generates impulsive breaking wave force on it. The variation of the maximum wave forces are formulated based on Hiroi's and Goda's formulae. It is confirmed that the proposed formulae estimate well the variation of the maximum wave force with the distance of the rock from leading crown edge. The vertical wave force is also found to depend greatly on the buoyant force.