We propose a new breakwater system in this study for decreasing the wave-induced elastic deformation of a very large floating structure. The proposed breakwater system consists of several submerged horizontal plates that will be fixed to the very large floating structure by columns. Differing from the gravitational type of breakwaters, this system can be constructed easily and economically. The proposed breakwater system is also an environment preserve system because the stream generated by the breaking wave will stimulate the exchange of the seawater. In this study, we investigate the mechanism and the characteristics of the submerged plate system by experiments and numerical simulations applying 1VIAC method.
The wavee-induced motions of a very large floating structure (VLFS) have been investigated extensively since the national project of the MEGA-FI, OAT started in Japan. Many of the studies have shown that the wave-induced motion of a VLFS is too large to ensure the safety of a plane during its landing or taking off. To guarantee the safety, usage of a breakwater system seems indispensable. In this study, we propose a new breakwater system for decreasing the wave-induced elastic deformation of a VLFS. The proposed breakwater system consists of several submerged horizontal plates that will be fixed to the edge of the VLFS. The existence of the submerged plates will decrease the wave-induced pressure on the bottom of the VLFS and increase the added-mass and damping coefficients of the structural motion, and in consequence the elastic motion of the VLFS will drops significantly. The usage of traditional gravitation breakwater system will increase considerably the construction cost of a VLFS and destroy the environment severely as the scale of a VLFS will be of several kilometers.
