Damage Evolution Prediction during 2D Scale-Model Tests of a Rubble-Mound Breakwater: A Case Study of Ericeira’s Breakwater

Abstract

Melby presents a formula to predict damage evolution in rubble-mound breakwaters whose armour layer is made of rock, based on the erosion measured in scale-model tests and the characteristics of the incident sea waves in such tests. However, this formula is only valid for armour layers made of rock and for the range of tested sea states. The present work aims to show how the Melby methodology can be used to establish a similar formula for the armour layer damage evolution in a rubble-mound breakwater where tetrapods are employed. For that, a long-duration test series is conducted with a 1:50 scale model of the quay section of the Ericeira Harbour breakwater. The eroded volume of the armour layer was measured using a Kinect position sensor. The damage parameter values measured in the experiments are lower than those predicted by the formulation for rock armour layers. New and coefficients for the Melby formula for the tested armour layer were established based on the minimum root mean square error between the measured and the predicted damage. This work shows also that it is possible to assess the damage evolution in scale-model tests with rubble-mound breakwaters by computing the eroded volume and subsequently, the dimensionless damage parameter based on the equivalent removed armour units.

On-Site Stability Assessment of Rubble Mound Breakwaters Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicle-Based Photogrammetry and Random Sample Consensus

“…Laboratory investigations exploring this subject employ a range of scanning devices, including structured light scanners, infrared scanners, and laser scanners, along with conventional profilers [6]. Some studies have also integrated devices with additional depth measurement capabilities, such as time-of-flight (ToF) and RGB-D cameras (e.g., Kinect) [7][8][9][10], providing the advantage of collecting information from the submerged portions of RMB models. Image-based methodologies are also increasingly utilized [11], with a specific subset of studies concentrating on photogrammetric reconstruction [12,13] to achieve a detailed three-dimensional representation of the slopes.…”