Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/11681/3258
Title: Shock pressures caused by waves breaking against coastal structures
Authors: Kamel, Adel M.
Keywords: Coastal structures
Shock pressures
Water hammer
Water wave forces
Water wave action
Maritime structures
Coastal structures
Ships
Shock waves
Hydrodynamics
Publisher: Hydraulics Laboratory (U.S.)
Engineer Research and Development Center (U.S.)
Series/Report no.: Research report (U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station) ; H-68-2.
Description: Research Report
Abstract: Shock pressures of high intensity and short duration may occur during breaking of waves on coastal structures, slamming of ships, landing of seaplanes, and water entry of naval projectiles with flat nose. The phenomenon of shock pressures resulting from the impact between a solid and a liquid can better be described as a water hammer phenomenon wherein elasticity of the solid and compressibility of the liquid are the governing factors. The water hammer theory predicts the extreme values of shock pressures since it neglects the effect of air that might be entrapped between the solid and the liquid at moment of impact. Analytical formulations of shock pressures as a water hammer phenomenon and as the compression of a thin layer of air entrapped between the solid and the liquid at moment of impact are presented herein. Tests were conducted by dropping a steel, al uminum, or plastic plate whose edge was hinged at the water surface into a steel tank that was partially fill ed with water. Shock pressures were measured at two locations by means of strain gage and piezoelectric type pressure cells mounted in the plate with special adaptors. The ratio between recorded and theoretical pressures when treated statistically was found to fit the Poisson distribution well. Correlation between recorded pressures and shape of the surface of contact between the solid and the liquid at moment of impact indicated that although shock pressures have a great intensity, they have a short duration and occur only at some spots on the surface of the solid. Therefore (a.) they should not be applied as static pressures for checking stability of the coastal structure as a whole, (b.) they may be absorbed by flexible structures, (c.) they may cause cracks in rigid structures such as steel caissons filled with rock, and (d.) they may affect the stability of structures that have natural frequencies within the range of duration of shock pressures.
Rights: Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/11681/3258
Appears in Collections:Research Report

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