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Chapter V. Hydraulic performance
V.1. Introduction
The interaction between rubble mound breakwaters and waves has been the subject of intensive
research. The majority of experimental studies have concentrated on the estimation of the
hydraulic responses of breakwaters based on the main hydrodynamic parameters representing the
wave and structure characteristics. The main concern was to propose optimizations leading to a
better hydraulic stability. This chapter will examine the various hydraulic responses exerted on
the structures.
The important hydraulic interactions between waves and hydraulic structures are wave Run-up,
wave Run-down, Overtopping, transmission and reflection, illustrated in Figure V-1
(CETMEF,2009). These interactions play a significant role in our case study, we will focus on
Run-up, wave Run-down and Overtopping.
Figure V-1 Hydraulic interactions related to waves and governing parameters (CETMEF, 2009).