| analysis
Controlled period: approximately
2 seconds
Measured depth: 6
inches (.1524 meter)
Observed wave height: 6 inches (.1254 meter)
Calculated wave height: 0.1219 (breaking)
Calculated wave length: 2.4 meter
Wave Steepness: 0.05079
Since
the waves were partially spilling over, a more accurate calculation of
energy density is given by the University of Delaware Wave Calculator.
It found the energy density of be approximately 18.2 Nm/m^2. The total
energy per unit crest width, E, associated with the observed wave
height is then:
To
decrease the wave height by 1 inch, which is a relatively significant
amount, either of the structures would have had to dissipate
approximately:
In
retrospect to the structures used, this change in energy density
corresponds to either a much larger structure, in terms of
cross-sectional area, or many successive structures orthogonal to the
incident waves.
The above analysis can be related to true docking structures
and how they mitigate wave energy and ultimately affect coastlines.
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