Collaborative Research: Fundamental Mechanics and Conditional Probabilities for Prediction of Hurricane Surge and Wave Loads on Elevated Coastal Structures

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Damage to coastal structures as a result of combined surge and wave loading has been significant in recent events such as Hurricane Ivan (2004), Katrina (2005) and Ike (2008) and most recently Sandy (2012). There is over $3T in built infrastructure along the US East and Gulf coasts, and elevated structures along coastal areas are becoming more commonplace as building stakeholders seek to mitigate damage and risk of property and structure loss. Currently, there are no accurate mechanics equations to compute the forces for combined surge and wave on these types of elevated structures and no comprehensive method to consistently account for the variability (uncertainty) in the random nature of the incoming waves. This project will pursue research that focuses on the impact of hurricane surge and wave loads on elevated coastal structures. The ultimate goal is to understand and quantify surge and wave loads on buildings and structures that can be used to mitigate damage to the coastal structures. A theoretical approach based on physics will be used to model the interaction between the water and coastal structure. The analytical formulation will be validated through small scale experimental testing in a wave tank. Storm surge and wave impacts will be formulated on a probabilistic basis. The results of the research can lead to performance based requirements in building standards.This collaborative project between research teams at Oregon State University and Colorado State University will combine expertise in coastal engineering and structural engineering to develop a fundamental understanding and modeling of hurricane surge and wave loads on elevated structures. The goal is to mitigate damages to shoreline infrastructures from extreme coastal storms. The analytical formulation will be built on Goda's method for calculating surge forces on elevated coastal structures and will be extended to incorporate wave forces. A probabilistic approach will be taken to combine surge and wave loads. Hydrodynamic hurricane wave and structure interaction will be used to formulate loading on these types of structures. The formulation will be validated with experiments on small scale structure models using a wave tank. The collaborative project will contribute to understanding of wave and surge loads and develop predictive equations for uplift, impact and overturning loads on elevated structures.