Prediction of wave impact occurrence on vertical and composite breakwaters

Research studies and case-histories of the collapse of vertical breakwaters have revealed the destructive potential of impact loads due to breaking waves and confirmed that during severe storms a large number of wave impacts can be generated of such severity as to cause the failure of the breakwater-foundation system. In the paper recent research results on the prediction of wave impacts on vertical structures are described and general design formulae and graphs, based on extensive bidimensional and tridimensional hydraulic model tests with random waves, are proposed.