Numerical Simulation of Wave Propagation Over Submerged Composite Breakwaters Using the Immersed Boundary Method

The two-dimensional flow induced by waves over submerged breakwaters of two different shapes is studied by means of a two-phase (water and air) Navier-Stokes equations solver. A time-splitting method is used for the temporal discretization, while the spatial discretization is based on the use of finite differences in a Cartesian staggered grid. The implementation of the boundary conditions at solid surfaces, as well as the treatment of the free surface is performed using the immersed boundary method where the breakwater, the seabed and the free surface are boundaries immersed in the numerical grid. The numerical model was applied on the propagation and breaking over a constant slope beach, as well as on the propagation and nonlinear transformation of waves over two types of submerged breakwaters, i.e., trapezoidal and composite (with berm in the up-slope side). The results of the numerical model reveal that the presence of the berm reduces the transmission coefficient and this reduction increases with the decrease of the berm depth of submergence.