Impact Pressure Distribution on a Monopile Structure Excited by Irregular Breaking Wave

The problem of impact pressure distribution on a monopole structure excited by irregular breaking waves is investigated. The analysis is performed by applying a numerical model that combines potential flow model with a Navier-Stokes/VOF solution. The temporal pressure distribution is analysed for two breaking wave cases characterized by the significant difference in the steepness of the wave front. The peak impact pressures are observed in the region below the overturning wave jet where the pressure increases rapidly resulting in a peak value of the slamming coefficient equal to Cs=2π. The vertical load distribution provided by the derived model is more realistic than a rectangular shape distribution applied in engineering practice. This is because the vertical load distribution strongly depends on breaking wave shape and it is difficult to uniquely approximate such a load distribution by a rectangle.