Analysis of the Power Plant Breakwater Failure Subjected to Typhoon Mangkhut Based on Model Experiment

Growing social concern regarding the environmental and visual impacts associated with coastal structures due to climatic change is leading to a reduction in breakwater failures. After Typhoon Mangkhut passed through the southeastern coast of China on September 16 in 2018, the breakwater of a Power Plant was serious failure. As a case study based on model test, the failure process and causes of breakwater were explored in this paper. The wave height and water level were used as the wave parameters, which were accurately extracted by the GOHS system when the typhoon transits, and the breakwater failure process was reproduced based on the typhoon wave forces action at that time. By the experimental result investigating, it was found that the joint of the caisson breakwater and the mound breakwater was firstly failure, then the armor blocks and stones near the seawalls became to be unstable, the seawall was collapsed finally. Based on the analysis of the experiment, the distribution in time and space of the damage of the protective blocks are obtained and divided into different damage areas according to the degree of failure. The wave energy concentration as a important factor were proposed in this paper and the conclusion would be provide as a reference for the study of breakwater engineering.