APPLICATION AND MODIFICATION OF GODA FORMULAE FOR NONIMPULSIVE WAVE FORCES ON ELEVATED COASTAL STRUCTURES

Abstract

With an increase in both the population densities in coastal communities and the frequency of high-intensity tropical cyclones in recent years, effective strategies to mitigate wave and surge-induced structural damage are essential to ensure community resilience. To prevent damage in vulnerable areas, structures must be constructed or retrofitted to withstand the wave and surge induced forces associated with extreme events. Accurately predicting the pressure distributions and forces caused by hurricane waves is a critical first step in establishing reliable design standards and construction practices. While progress has been made in the estimation of wave-induced horizontal loads on vertical walls and breakwaters or vertical loads on elevated slabs based on previous theoretical, experimental, and numerical investigations, the results of these studies may not directly apply to the geometries of coastal houses, which comprise a major portion of the building stock in coastal communities. Many coastal residences are elevated above ground; thus, methods must be developed that can predict both the horizontal and the vertical forces acting on the structure. This work uses results from a large scale experimental dataset to develop a robust methodology for estimating the wave-induced horizontal and vertical pressure distributions on an elevated structure.