WAVE DIFFRACTION AND TRANSMISSION BY A SUBMERGED BREAKWATER

The wave field around a rectangular submerged breakwater is investigated by means of an experiment in numericalwave flume. The results were compared with those obtained making use of the Boundary Element Method. Thenumerical experiment is carried out to determine the share of the incident wave energy that are reflected, dissipatedover the roof of the breakwater, and transmitted in the lee. The wave field before the breakwater (i.e. the quasistanding field) obtained with the CFD simulations is quite similar to that obtained with the BEM. Some relevantdierences between the two models arise in the lee of the breakwater, because the wave motion is strongly aected bythe dissipation occuring over the breakwater roof by friction and wave breaking. They cannot be foreseen with BEM,being the motion ideal. Their analysis show that the dissipation is more than halves the transmission of energy, despitethe relevant submergence of the considerated breakwater.