Abstract:
The knowledge of wave transformation and breaking characteristics near
coastline is essential for the nearshore hydrodynamics and the design of
coastal structures. This paper describes a wide range of wave flume tests
performed at the National Laboratory for Civil Engineering (LNEC),
located in Lisbon (Portugal), which main objective was to study wave
shoaling and breaking over a set of different gentle slopes for several
incident waves and thus to contribute for a better understand of the
hydrodynamics of wave transformation.
The experimental conditions, the measurement equipment, the incident
wave characteristics, the type of measurements performed (free surface
elevation and particle velocity) and the data obtained are described. Time
and spectral analysis based upon the measured data are also performed and
presented. For a regular wave with a period of 1.5s and a height of 0.1m are
presented and discussed the following results: free surface elevation at
selected sections along the flume; the spectral analysis; the significant wave
height and average period along the flume; the particle velocity components
at different locations along the flume; the average, maximum and minimum
values of the longitudinal component of the velocity along the flume; the
two dimensional distribution of the three components of the velocity; and
longitudinal velocity component vertical profiles.
