Hinged Floating Breakwater

Abstract

An analytical model is developed to examine the response and efficiency of a rigid, hinged floating breakwater. The theoretical model is verified experimentally and is used to develop design curves which may be employed to estimate necessary physical breakwater characteristics to satisfy specified wave attenuation criteria. The utility of these curves is demonstrated in a design problem. It is shown that a structure of reasonable size is an effective dynamic barrier for high frequency waves and an effective kinematic barrier for low frequency waves.