Characterization of incoming tsunamis for the design of coastal structures

Abstract

The Tohoku Tsunami of 2011 in Japan flooded a large part of the coastal area of Japan. The tsunami was caused by an earthquake with a magnitude of 9.0 just of the coast of Tohoku. The inundation height of the tsunami exceeded the design height of the tsunami barriers. This event led to thousands of fatalities.
The aim of this study is to find the characteristics of the incoming tsunami waves for the design of coastal defence structures. This incoming tsunami wave close to the shore or on the shore is influenced by a lot of offshore factors that will change the wave and its behaviour. The tsunami wave will either develop into a bore or just run up the coast. This has large influence on the forces on the barrier. Potential influencing factors are examined on if and how they influence the tsunami wave when it travels to the coast.
A numerical one-dimensional SWASH model is used throughout this study to simulate the tsunami wave. The tsunami factors and the factors that influence the wave were studied in several steps.
The factors that have the most influence on the wave are used to simulate bores. From all these bores the important characteristics for the design of a barrier are investigated. These are the bore height, the bore velocity and the corresponding Froude number. With the simulations a new definition of the bore height is introduced. This is the height at the maximum velocity of the bore. The bore characteristics are also tested with an existing formula for the impact forces on a structure.
The behaviour of the breaking wave is studied and a breaker parameter [ξtsunami] for tsunami waves is made. This breaker parameter defines if the tsunami wave develops into a bore before it reaches the coastline or that the wave runs up the coast without breaking. This is important for the location of the coastal structure.
This breaker parameter and the Froude number of the bore give a relationship between the important parameters that influence the development of a bore and the characteristics of the incoming tsunami bore.
Finally, physical tests were performed at the Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan, to simulate the bore attack on a coastal defence structure with a dam-break. The bore of the tests is compared to the bore from the SWASH simulations. This resulted that the velocities of the tests seem too high. However, with a new method to find the bore front characteristics is a Froude number constructed. This Froude number matches very well for the tests and SWASH simulations. The Froude numbers of the test represent a bore at the coastline.