Wave Attenuation by Floating Breakwater

In recent years, series of studies has been conducted to evaluate the wave
attenuation ability of a floating breakwater model namely the Wave Suppress System
(WSS). Aprototype model was designed to provide a shape which could effectively
attenuate waves with the aim of determining the ability of the structure in various
conditions. An experimental project on the wave attenuation ability of a floating
breakwater was carried out as a final yearprojectto further improve the performance
of the WSS. The aim of this study is to evaluating the performance of three floating
breakwater models in terms of transmission which was done experimentally and
analysed in detail and in terms of reflection and energy loss which were made
through observations during the sessions of experiments. Besides that, discussions
were made to determine the factors that affect the attenuation ability of the floating
breakwater models. Twelve sets of experiments were conducted and several
literatures on previous tests done on floating breakwater have been reviewed
throughout the study. With reference to the original design of the WSS floating
breakwater, three floating breakwater models was fabricated for the study - Ml, M2,
and M3 which were all made of wood assembled into a hollow box with a basic
shape of30 cm long, 20 cm wide and 10 cm tall. All models are proven theoretically
and experimentally stable having a draft of 6 cm for Ml, 6.9 cm for M2, 4.9 cm for
M3. Laboratory experiments were conducted to evaluate the performance of allthree
floating breakwater models. The results were presented and analysed clearly in this
report. It was found that the performance of all three floating breakwater models
were more effective when fixed by piling systems. The CT values for Ml, M2 and
M3 were smaller when anchored by pile system compared to cable. The wave
attenuation ability of all floating breakwater models were more effective in water
depth of 20 cm for pile system while for cable system, the models were more
effective in water depths of 30 cm. In conclusion, M2performs best for pile category
while M3 attenuates more wave energy for cable system category.