Overland Wave Propagation and Load Distribution among Arrays of Elevated Beachfront Structures

A series of laboratory experiments and high-fidelity numerical modeling were conducted to study the effects of the lowest floor elevation on the flow and loading patterns resulting from the overland propagation of a solitary wave among an array of idealized beachfront buildings. Although the uplift force is found to be nearly independent of the building position within the array, it significantly varies with the elevation of the lowest floor. The analyses show that the wave-induced uplift force reaches its peak as the lowest floor elevation is positioned at the still water level. The position of the building within the array and the elevation of the lowest floor are found to be the two most influential factors on the lateral force. The lateral and uplift forces varied with the lowest floor elevation by an inverse linear and a third-order polynomial relationship, respectively. The collective maximum force on the array estimated using the concept of momentum flux demonstrated a confidence level of more than 70%.