Experimental investigation the characteristics of three-dimensional wave field and its effect on sandy sloping seabed

Abstract

The three-dimensional topography of the seabed has a significant influence on the wave field and the failure characteristics of the sloping seabed. Nevertheless, previous experimental studies were predominantly limited to two-dimensional wave conditions. In this study, a series of regular wave experiments (including a rigid-slope seabed and a sandy-slope seabed) have been done in a large-scale three-dimensional harbor basin to investigate the three-dimensional wave field in the Zhoushan sea area and the response characteristics of the sloping seabed under the wave actions, respectively. The results of the rigid-seabed tests show that the wave field has obvious three-dimensional characteristics under the influence of three-dimensional topography. During the process of propagation, wave shoaling occurs which leads to wave breaking finally. At the same time, the wave will reflect when it meets the topography, and the reflected wave will affect the wave field in turn. The pore water pressure response and three-dimensional failure modes of sandy sloping seabed under the wave actions are obtained by the sandy-seabed experiment.

HIGHLIGHTS

1. Three-dimensional seabed topography of typical sea area is established in the harbor basin.

2. The characteristics of the three-dimensional wave field and the response of submarine slope under the three-dimensional wave actions were investigated.

3. The three-dimensional topography of sandy sloping seabed after wave actions was captured.

Keywords:

• wave shoaling
• three-dimensional seabed topography
• scour
• pore pressure

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The authors would like to acknowledge the supports from Finance Science and Technology Project of Hainan Province (ZDKJ202019), Key Research and Development program of Zhejiang Province (2020C03012, 2021C03014).