Wave Forces on Vertical Walls

Abstract

Formulas are presented to third order in wave height for the force and moment exerted on a vertical wall by the complete reflection of waves with an arbitrary angle of incidence. These expressions show a number of unusual features, some of which have been found previously for the special case of standing waves. They include the following: the maximum force per unit length is caused by obliquely‐incident waves rather than standing waves; the secondorder contribution to the load may be larger than that at first order without invalidating the solution; the greatest net force is that directed offshore under the wave troughs; and the greatest onshore force sometimes does not occur under wave crests. The formulas presented make the problem of determining the maximum load for design purposes one of finding the maximum of a given function in a space which includes as its dimensions the wave height, wave length or period, angle of incidence, and the wall length relative to the wavelength.