LABORATORY STUDY OF PLUNGING WAVE IMPACTS ON VERTICAL CYLINDERS

The characteristics of pressures associated with plunging wave impacts on a vertical cylinder are presented. Despite a high variability in t he peak pressures, spatial distributions of the impact pressure time h istories, both in the vertical direction and around the seaward front of the cylindrical surface, are found to vary systematically for a ran ge of cylinder locations in the wave plunging region. Through correlat ions between the incident wave kinematics and the impact pressures, th e mechanics of the impact process have been identified and elucidated. These results serve as a useful reference for future numerical and th eoretical modelling of extreme wave loads on surface-piercing vertical cylinders.