Simulating Regular Wave Effects on a Pile-Moored Floating Breakwater Using a Modified WCSPH Method

The hydrodynamic behavior of a rectangular pile-moored floating breakwater with 1 degree of freedom (DOF) is simulated using a weakly compressible smoothed particle hydrodynamic (WCSPH) scheme. The wave-structure interaction and related hydrodynamic forces were evaluated by solving a modified smoothed particle hydrodynamic-based equation derived to consider the boundary motions. In the modified equation, the effects of acceleration of fluid/solid particles were considered. To investigate the efficiency of the developed numerical model, two verification tests were performed on a square and a rectangular floating body with 3 DOFs (heave, sway, and roll motions), and the results were compared with available experimental data. Moreover, for simulating the hydrodynamic behavior of pile-moored floating breakwater, two test cases with different conditions were investigated. The hydrodynamic behavior of a typical floating breakwater and breakwater transmission, reflection coefficients, and dynamic response in heave motion were evaluated for different water-depth conditions and three draft values of the structure. The obtained results reveal that the proposed modifications in the boundary treatment can improve the accuracy of fluid-structure interaction in numerical models on the basis of the smoothed particle hydrodynamic scheme. (C) 2017 American Society of Civil Engineers.