Hydraulic characteristics of pile-supported L-shaped bars used as a screen breakwater

• Hydrodynamic characteristics of piles suspended L-shaped bars are studied.
• Influence of different structure characteristics are tested for regular waves.
• Theoretical model based on Eigen Function Expansion was developed.
• Theoretical model gives a reasonable prediction when the friction factor is 1.25.

The hydrodynamic performance of horizontal L-shaped bars suspending on sporting piles was experimentally and theoretically studied under normal regular waves. The effect of different wave and structural parameters was investigated e.g. the wave length, the horizontal L-shaped bars draft and spacing, the supporting piles diameter and spacing. The theoretical model based on an Eigen Function Expansion Method and a Least Square Technique was developed to determine the hydrodynamic performance of such structures. In order to examine the validity of the theoretical model, the theoretical results were compared with the present experimental results and with the results obtained from different previous studies. Comparison between experiments and predictions showed that the theoretical model provides a good estimate of the wave transmission, reflection, and energy dissipation coefficients when the upper and lower friction factors are fU=1.25 and fL=0.75. The proposed theoretical model gives a reasonable performance when compared with the theoretical and experimental results of other similar breakwater models.