PRELIMINARY EVALUATION OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF USING ARTIFICIAL REEFS TO REDUCE REAKING WAVE IMPACT ON OFFSHORE STRUCTURES

摘要

Waves breaking on offshore platforms can have damaging consequences for the structure and for the safety of the people working on it. Recent unexpected extreme wave events have shown the effects that breaking waves have on offshore platforms. In this paper, the results from a scaled experimental investigation conducted the Newcastle University wind, wave and current tank, are presented. With these tests, the effectiveness of using artificial reefs to avoid or lessen the effects of breaking wave activity is examined. Four different types of artificial reefs are tested and their effects are compared to a reference test with no artificial reef. The comparison is based on the changes of the size and location of the maximum wave amplitude, the maximum displacement of a scaled platform and the artificial reef's ability to dissipate wave energy. Overall, the results show that placing the rectangular reef in the tank produces the most promising results. However, it is also shown that placing any one of the artificial reefs in the tank will affect a change in the wave motion. Thus, this investigation shows that the use of an artificial reef could be a step in securing a higher level of protection for personnel and operations.