Seawalls - Simulations

Simulations

In 2007 researchers at the University of Salerno published studies showing interactions between maritime breakwaters and waves using CAD and CFD software (see diagrams on right). In the simulations the filtration motion of the fluid within the interstices, which normally exist in a breakwater, is estimated by integrating the relevant RANS equations coupled with a random number generated turbulence model inside the voids, rather than using the classical equations for porous media. The breakwaters were modelled, both for the actual size construction and for a physical laboratory test, by overlapping three-dimensional elements. The numerical grid was thickened in such a way to have some computational nodes along the flow paths among the breakwater’s blocks.