Wave Interactions with Vertical Slotted Barrier

The present paper outlines the numerical calculation of wave interactions with a thin vertical slotted barrier extending from the water surface to some distance above the seabed, and describes laboratory tests undertaken to assess the numerical model. The numerical model is based on an eigenfunction expansion method and utilizes a boundary condition at the barrier surface that accounts for energy dissipation within the barrier. Numerical results compare well with previous predictions for the limiting cases of an impermeable barrier and a permeable barrier extending down to the seabed. Comparisons with experimental measurements of the transmission, reflection, and energy dissipation coefficients for a partially submerged slotted barrier show good agreement provided certain empirical coefficients of the model are suitably chosen, and indicate that the numerical method is able to account adequately for the energy dissipation by the barrier. The effects of porosity, relative wave length, wave steepness, and irregular waves are discussed and the choice of suitable parameters needed to model the permeability of the breakwater is described.