Perforated and OWC Caissons

Oral

1399 - Violent In-Chamber Loads In An Oscillating Water Column Caisson

Presenting Author(s)

• 

  Krisna Pawitan, MSc

  final year PhD candidate
  University of Edinburgh

Additional Author #1(s)

• BG

  Ben Gossling

Additional Author #2(s)

• WA

  William Allsop, BSc, MICE

  Director, William Allsop Consulting; PhD student
  University of Edinburgh

Additional Author #3(s)

• TB

  Tom Bruce

  School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh

In 2009, four of 16 chambers in the Mutriku Oscillating Water Column (OWC) breakwater were damaged by storms, probably by slam within the chambers. To minimize such risks, characterising wave conditions to avoid such impact loads may be necessary. This paper uses data from large scale testing in the GWK to quantify loads and performance. In-chamber impact pressures of up to 8 ρgH were recorded on the chamber ceiling, associated with the ‘sloshing’ observed in the large scale physical model test. The paper has identified wave/structure configurations where “sloshing” is most likely, and therefor feeds into the design processes