Hydraulic stability and wave overtopping of Starbloc ® armored mound breakwaters
Abstract
The new interlocking concrete armour unit, 'Starbloc ® ', has been developed for coastal protection purposes. This compact armour unit consists of three 'legs' and two 'noses'. The design is based on finding an optimized placement on the slope with at least three contacts, which is self-stable under the own unit weight. 'Shipshape placement' on a single layer is recommended on steep slopes like 3V: 4H. 2D hydraulic model tests are performed to investigate the hydraulic stability and hydraulic performance of this new unit. The model tests are performed with irregular waves to observe the behaviour of the structure, applying JONSWAP spectrum with a peak enhancement factor γ ¼ 3.3. Based on hydraulic model tests, the results demonstrate a high hydraulic stability for the interlocked individual units (N s ¼ 2.9), despite of a satisfactory level of overtopping performance (γ r ¼ 0.45). Global damage (extraction of group of units) on very dense armour placement highlights the importance of considering a minimum porosity, 34%, inside the armour layer (surface) instead of a mean value (volume).
Origin : Files produced by the author(s)
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