Tsunami-Like Wave-Induced Lateral and Uplift Pressures and Forces on an Elevated Coastal Structure

Abstract

A large-scale physical model was constructed in the Large Wave Flume of Hinsdale Wave Research Laboratory (HWRL) at Oregon State University to develop a dataset of measured pressures and forces acting on an elevated, coastal structure, representing a two-story building with an elevated foundation, due to tsunami-like wave impacts. Two wave cases, unbroken and broken long waves, were investigated by changing the still water level, resulting in cases without and with an air gap between the still water level and the bottom of the test specimen, while maintaining the base of the test specimen at the same elevation. Horizontal and vertical pressures and forces were measured on the faces of the test specimen and between the test specimen and its supports, respectively. Three pressure gauge layouts were used to measure the distribution of pressures around the test specimen for each wave case. Regression surfaces of the pressure gauge measurements illustrate the shape of the pressure distributions on the test specimen. The maximum vertical forces were measured during the unbroken-wave case. However, the streamwise, horizontal force was maximized when the structure was subjected to the broken wave. The findings and data presented here are intended for use by numerical modelers for future validation analyses that can be used toward enabling tsunami-resistant designs of coastal elevated building structures.