Experimental Study of Wave Overtopping on the Edge of a Complex Island

The complex topography of natural bedrock shorelines on islands necessitates detailed model testing to thoroughly investigate wave overtopping mechanisms and their variation patterns. This understanding is vital for optimizing the elevation of coastal structures to meet the design requirements for wave overtopping and to ensure safety and efficacy. This paper investigates a nuclear power plant project on an island in Zhejiang Province, China. This study employs small-scale overall model tests and large-scale local model tests to examine the complex dynamics of wave interaction with the island’s shoreline. It analyzes the influences of wave parameters, shoreline geometry, and underwater topography on wave overtopping behavior. Comparisons between physical model results and empirical formulae reveal substantial discrepancies in overtopping rates across different model scales. The results stress the remarkable effect of accurate underwater topography representation on wave overtopping predictions and emphasize the need for precise topographic modeling. The results also show that overtopping discharges for complex terrains deviate considerably from values determined using traditional empirical formulas for breakwater overtopping. This outcome indicates that conventional methods may insufficiently address the complexities of natural coastal features. To guarantee reliable predictions of overtopping volumes at specific elevations along complex coastlines, this study advocates employing physical modeling across numerous scales while accounting for detailed terrain and hydrodynamic characteristics.