Laboratory study of random wave slamming on a piled wharf with different shore connecting structures

Impact pressures from random waves on the underside of a wharf deck were measured in a laboratory wave channel. Three different types of shore connecting structures were considered: open-piled, permeable slope and impermeable slope wharves. The experiments were carried out with significant wave heights ranging from 10 cm to 20 cm, spectral peak periods ranging from 1.0 s to 2.0 s, and the relative clearance of the model with respect to significant wave heights ranging from 0.1 to 0.4. The characteristics of the wave impact pressures for different shore connecting conditions are investigated, and their statistical distributions along the underside of the models are also determined. Experimental results indicate that the impact pressures depend on parameters such as the significant wave height, the spectral peak period, and the relative length and clearance of the model.