Investigations on the shallow water wave attenuation over continuous porous oyster reef-like structure

Observations over the decades have found that oyster reefs in shallow estuarine environments have the potential to protect shorelines or offshore structures by dissipating wave energy. Laboratory experiments were conducted to observe the shallow water wave attenuation in different terrains of the continuous porous oyster reef-like structures. To better reproduce this process, a numerical wave flume that is within the OpenFOAM scheme was developed in this study. The volume-averaged Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (VARANS) equations were solved for two-phase incompressible flow around the porous structures and the VOF method was used for tracking the free surface. The model was first validated by the present laboratory experiments. Subsequently, dimensional analysis was conducted to address the factors influencing wave attenuation over continuous porous reef-like structures. The model was then applied to evaluate the impacts of wave factors and morphological factors of porous oyster reef-like structures on the wave attenuation. By the end, an empirical formula was proposed to predict the wave transmission coefficient based on the numerical results and the experimental data.