An experimental study on the parameterization of reshaped seaward profile of berm breakwaters

Berm breakwaters are rubble mound structures in which the seaward slope of the initial profile may be reshaped to become more stable under severe wave attack. The stones in the seaward slope move from the initial slope to an equilibrium profile. A 2D experimental study has been carried out in a wave flume at a hydraulic laboratory of Tarbiat Modares University to study the effects of sea state and structural parameters on the reshaped profile parameters of such breakwaters. A series of 287 tests have been performed to cover the effect of various sea state conditions such as wave height, wave period, number of waves and water depth at the toe of the structure, and structural parameters such as berm width, berm elevation above still water level and armor stone size. All the tests have been done employing irregular waves with a JONSWAP spectrum. In this paper, first the reshaped profiles are schematized, and then the key parameters of the reshaped seaward profiles such as step height, step length and depth of intersection point of initial and reshaped profile are investigated, using results of this experimental work. Eventually, formulae that include some sea state and structural parameters are derived for estimation of the reshaped profile parameters. To assess the validity of the proposed formulae, comparisons are made between the estimated parameters of reshaped profiles by these formulae and earlier formulae given by other researchers. The comparisons show that the estimation procedure foretells reshaping parameters well and with less scatter according to the present data and also other experimental results within the range of parameters tested.