Experimental study on tsunami-driven debris damming loads on columns of an elevated coastal structure

Abstract

This study presents experimental findings on debris damming loads on columns of an elevated coastal structure under tsunami-like wave conditions. A total of 183 cases (140 with and 43 without debris) were tested at a 1:20 scale to understand the impact of various factors on debris-driven damming loads, including wave characteristics, structure configurations, and debris shapes. The debris impact and damming processes were observed and quantified from optical measurements, and corresponding loads were measured on the entire structure using a force balance plate and on an individual column in the front row using a multi-axial load cell. The experimental results indicated the horizontal debris damming load on the entire column structure increased by up to 3.2 times compared to conditions without debris, while the load on the individual column increased by up to 11.0 times. The total damming loads for the whole structure increased, but the load for the individual column decreased at a reduced opening ratio. The smaller debris sizes relative to column spacing showed significantly lower chances of debris damming across different column configurations. Overall, the load on the whole structure showed stronger correlations between debris damming loads and hydro-kinematic variables such as flow depth, velocity, momentum flux, and Froude number compared to the loads on the individual column. Among these variables, momentum flux emerged as the most consistently influential across all categories.