A Methodology for the Analysis of Physical Model Scale Effects on the Simulation of Wave Propagation up to Wave Breaking: Preliminary Physical Model Results

This paper describes the experiments performed at the National Laboratory for Civil Engineering (LNEC) aiming at simulating, in a flume, the wave propagation along a constant slope bottom that ends on a sea wall coastal defence structure, a common structure employed in the Portuguese coast. The objective of these tests is to calibrate the parameters of FUNWAVE, a Boussinesq type model, for wave propagation in coastal regions. This is the first step in the validation of a methodology to combine numerical and physical models in the study of the interactions between beaches and structures. This work is performed in the framework of the Composite Modelling of the Interactions between Beaches and Structures (CoMIBBs) project, a joint research activity of the HYDRALAB III European project.