An Experimental and Computational Study of Breaking Wave Impact Forces

The impact forces generated by the impact of a breaking wave are poorly understood. These impulsive hydrodynamic loads to a ship's hull are of short duration relative to ship motions and buoyant wave loads and often result in extremely high pressures. The physics of breaking waves is a poorly understood, complex, multiphase phenomenon involving violent jet sprays, strong free-surface turbulence, air entrainment and bubble generation, all of which interact with the flow field and the adjacent structure. This paper will describe a set of experiments that were performed, at the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division (NSWCCD), in 2006, to measure the hydrodynamic loads of regular nonbreaking and focused breaking waves on a 0.305 m x 0.305 m (1.0 ft x 1.0 ft) square plate and discuss the results of this study. The paper will also discuss Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) code predictions of breaking waves and wave impact loads. The CFD code utilized in this study is Numerical Flow Analysis (NFA).