BREAKING WAVE IMPACT LOAD ON RIGID AND

DEFORMABLE VERTICAL CYLINDER

A THESIS
Submitted by

A.SARAVANA VEL(OE12M048)
for the award of the degree
of

M.TECH
in
Offshore Structural Engineering
Under the guidance of

Prof. S. A.SANNASIRAJ

DEPARTMENT OF OCEAN ENGINEERING

INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY MADRAS
CHENNAI 600036
MAY 2014

THESIS CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the thesis entitledBREAKING WAVE IMPACT LOAD ON RIGID
AND DEFORMABLE VERTICAL CYLINDER submitted by SARAVANA VEL.Ato the
Indian Institute of Technology Madras, for the award of the degree of M.TECH IN
OFFSHORE STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING is a bonafide record of research work carried
out by him under my supervision. The contents of this thesis, in full or in part, have not been
submitted to any other Institution or University for the award of any degree or diploma.

Prof. S. A.SANNASIRAJ
Project Guide
Department of Ocean Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology Madras

ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This is the right opportunity to express my sincere thanks to many people who have supported
me. I record my sincere thanks to:
Prof.S.A.Sannasiraj I would like to express my deep and sincere gratitude to my research
supervisor, for his valuable guidance, motivation, keen care and kindness shown to me at every
stage of my research work. His constant encouragement was a source of great inspiration and
made the project an interesting learning experience.
Prof. V. Anantha Subramanian, Head, Department of Ocean Engineering for providing
excellent departmental facilities.My sincere thanks to my Review Committee members
Prof.Nallayarasuand Dr.Panneer, for their critical evaluation and suggestions in the
improvement of the quality of my research.
I am very much thankful to Prof. V. G. Idichandy for his high quality lectures on Experimental
methods and measurements and Prof. S.A.Sannasiraj for his valuable addresses on Lab II.
Mr. Santhanam, Mrs. Devika, Mrs. S. Shanmugapriyafor providinginstrumentation and their
co-operation during my experimental investigations in all stages of my research.
My fellow scholar,Mr. Bandi Harikiran Reddy for his kind co-operation and constant
encouragement in various phases of my work.
I am very grateful to my parents, for their love and support during this period.
I am really happy for getting an opportunity to learn from such a great institution and excellent
faculty members. And, I would like to thank Larsen and Toubro for introducing and funding
such a wonderful course and considering me worthy of it. All the staff members of Department
of Ocean Engineering for rendering their help during various stages of my graduation period.

A.SARAVANA VEL
iii

ABSTRACT

This work experimentally compares the interaction of breaking wave impact on a rigid and a
deformable cylindrical object. The preferred signal to the wave maker was computed by
combining 28 sinusoidal wave components and generated in 2m wave flume. The impact on both
objects is characterized in terms of impact pressures, forces, rise time, wave steepness and td/Tn.
The experiments show a reduction in impact forces and pressures for the deformable cylinder
compared to the rigid one, indicating a transformation of impact energy into deformation energy.

iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS......iii
ABSTRACT... iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS........................v
LIST OF FIGURES &TABLES......viii
NOTATIONS ...........x

1.INTRODUCTION
1.1General ........................................................................................................................... 1
1.2 Breaking Wave.............................................................................................................. 1
1.3 Sources for wave breaking ............................................................................................ 2
1.4 Classification of breaking wave .................................................................................... 2
1.5 Breaking Point................3
1.6Problem Definition..........3
1.7 Organisation ofThesis.4

2.LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 General .................................................................................................................. 6
2.2 Hydroelasticity during Wave Breaking ........................................................................ 6
2.3 Objective and scope of the study ................................................................................ 10

3.EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN AND SETUP

3.1 General.11
3.2 Test Facilities ..11
3.2.1 Wave Flume..11
3.2.2 Wave Synthesizer...... .......11
3.2.3 Wave controller.............12
3.2.4 Hydraulic servo actuator...12
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3.3 Instrumentation....................................12
3.3.1 Wave gauge......12
3.3.2 Strain gauge... ......12
3.3.3 Accelerometer..................................14
3.3.4 Signal conditioner .......14
3.4 Data Acquisition 14
3.4.1 Spider 8................14
3.5 Laboratory generation of breaking waves.......15
3.5.1 General.................................15
3.5.2 Simulation of Breaking wave.......15
3.6 Experimental setup......17
3.6.1 Model ...........17
3.6.2 Model location......19
3.6.3Test Procedure.......19

4.RESULTS AND BRIEF ANALYSIS

4.1 Determination of breaking wave celerity..........20
4.2 Load cases.21
4.3Force determination on flexible cylinder...23
4.4 Force determination on Rigid cylinder.23
4.5 Results and Disscussions......23
4.5.1 Spatial Variation of Bending Strain.......23
4.5.2 Temporal Variation of Bending Strain..24
4.6.Impact pressure distribution on rigid vs deformable cylinder..33
4.6.1.Impact pressure as function of wave steepness on rigid and deformable cylinder34
4.6.2.Impact pressure as function of Rise time on rigid and deformable cylinder.36
4.7.Acceleration Response..37
4.8.Hydroelastic Effects......41

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5.SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

5.1 Summary ..................................................................................................................... 44
5.2 Conclusions ................................................................................................................. 44
5.2.1 Structural Response of Deformable cylinder ........................................................... 44
5.2.2.Rigid Vs Deformable cylinder.......45

6.REFERENCES .................................................................................................................

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LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES

Figure 1 Type of breaking waves (Spilling, Plunging Collapsing and Surging)...2

Figure 2: Point of maximum Impact force.3
Figure 3: Typical Strain Gauge.........................13
Photo 1: Strain Gauge Installation........................13
Photo 2: Half Bridge.............13
Figure 4: Input Time series to wave maker.......16
Table 1: Various types of Breaking wave generated and its features ..16
Table 2: Essential parameters of Two cylinder model..17
Figure 5: Sectional view of the experimental setup for Strain Measurement..18
Photo 3: Front view of the experimental setup for Study18
Photo 4: Video frames showing Airtube movement for P1 Event....................20
Figure 6: Load Case I &II.21
Photos: 5 Breaking Wave impact on Deformable Cylinder at time step=0.033sec..22
Figure :7 Spatial variation of Bending strain at various elevation for (P1,P2,P3,P4,P5,S1,S2,NB)
events.................................................................24
Figure 8: Strain Response at various elevation for P1Event......................25
Figure 9: Strain Response at various elevation for P2 Event.....................26
Figure 10: Strain Response at various elevation for P3 Event...................26
Figure 11: Strain Response at various elevation for P4 Event...................................................27
Figure 12: Strain Response at various elevation for P5Event....................27
Figure 13: Strain Response at various elevation for S1 Event...................28
Figure 14: Strain Response at various elevation for S2 Event...................28
viii

Figure 15: Strain Response at various elevation for NB Event.................................................29

Figure 16: Strain Response for P1Event @ 8.2m location....................29
Figure 17: Strain Response for P2Event @ 8.2m location....................30
Figure 18: Strain Response for P3Event @ 8.2m location....................30
Figure 19: Strain Response for P4Event @ 8.2m location....................31
Figure 20: Strain Response for P5Event @ 8.2m location....................31
Figure 21: Strain Response for S1Event @ 8.2m location....................32
Figure 22: Strain Response for S2Event @ 8.2m location....................32
Figure 23: Strain Response for NB Event @ 8.2m location.................33
Figure 24: Spatial variation of Impact pressure for the rigid and deformable cylinder34
Figure 25: Variation of Impact Force as function of wave steepness..35
Figure 26: Variation of Impact Pressure as function of wave steepness.35
Figure 27: Variation of Impact Pressure as function of rise time....36
Figure 28: Acceleration Response for P1 event...............37
Figure 29: Acceleration Response for P2 event...38
Figure 30: Acceleration Response for P3 event...38
Figure 31: Acceleration Response for P4 event...39
Figure 32: Acceleration Response for P5 event..39
Figure 33: Acceleration Response for S1 event..40
Figure 34: Variation of acceleration as function of wave steepness..40
Figure 35: Strain time history of P1 wave on deformable cylinder...............41
Figure 36: Strain time history of NB wave on deformable cylinder.42
Figure 37: Strain time history of P5 wave on deformable cylinder..42
Figure 38: Variation of Pressure as function of R (=td/Tn).......43

ix

NOTATIONS

Cylinder diameter(m)

Cylinder length(m)

Bending strain(micron m/m)

Elastic modulus(N/mm2)

Wave steepness Parameter

Elevation above Still water level(m)

Hb

Breaker Height(m)

Moment of Inertia of tubular cross section(m4)

Frequency(Hz)

Acceleration due to gravity(m/s2)

Characteristic wave length

Pressure(KPa)

Seconds