Fujima, K. et al.

Paper:
Estimation of Tsunami Force Acting on Rectangular Structures
Koji Fujima

, Fauzie Achmad

, Yoshinori Shigihara

, and Norimi Mizutani

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, National Defense Academy

1-10-20 Hashirimizu, Yokosuka, Kanagawa 239-8686, Japan
E-mail: fujima@nda.ac.jp

Department of Civil Engineering, Nagoya University

Furo-Cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8603, Japan
[Received June 23, 2009; accepted August 31, 2009]
Hydraulic experiments were conducted to estimate
tsunami wave force acting on rectangular onshore
structures. Used building models placed at several dis-
tances from a shoreline. Wave pressure was measured
at points on exposed structures. Impact and standing-
wave pressure at different points peaked at different
moments in time, so tsunami force tended to be over-
estimated by integrating maximum wave-pressure dis-
tribution envelope. Measured total force was thus used
to formulate tsunami force estimation equations. Hy-
drostatic formula was successful for structures near
a shoreline, despite large scattering for structures far
from a shoreline. Hydrodynamic formula was success-
ful in all cases, although inertia was considerable for
structures near a shoreline.
Keywords: tsunami force, design formula, wave pres-
sure, drag coefcient
1. Introduction
The 2004 Sumatra Earthquake and Indian Ocean
Tsunami vividly demonstrated the menace of major
tsunamis. As the tsunami destroyed most coastal build-
ings, this wreckage destroyed remaining buildings. Mini-
mizing tsunami damage thus requires that shoreline build-
ings withstand tsunamis. Besides, solid shoreline struc-
tures can be used for evacuations.
Of the considerable research done on tsunami forces
acting on structures and the many tsunami force estima-
tion equations proposed, most (e.g., Asakura et al. [1],
Yeh [2], Simamora et al. [3]) introduced inundation depth
where no structure exists for evaluating external force.
Yeh [2] and Simamora et al. [3] considered both in-
undation depth and velocity under such conditions and
Simamora et al. [3] examined inundation depth at the front
of buildings assuming hydrostatic pressure. We have clas-
sied these into two groups hydrostatic equations in
which inundation depth alone is the considered variable
because such equations are expressed similarly to that
assuming hydrostatic pressure, and hydrodynamic equa-
tions in which both inundation depth and velocity are con-
sidered.
Because the applicability and nature of these formulas
are as yet poorly understood, we conducted basic experi-
ments to better grasp wave pressure time history and total
force. The applicability of tsunami force formulas was
checked using our own data together with that of Yeom et
al. [4, 5].
2. Experimental Setup
Hydraulic experiments were conducted in a two-
dimensional (2D) wave basin 11 m long, 7 m wide, and
1.5 m deep, and having a piston for generating waves.
The basin seabed modeled sea-oor deformation from
offshore through shallow water to onshore. The experi-
mental setup is shown in Fig. 1.
Several experiments were conducted varying the build-
ings scale, the distance from the shoreline, and the in-
cident wave stroke. We used two models in experiments
model B = W = H = 10 cm where B = width along-
shore, W = width cross-shore, H = height, and model
B =20 cm, W =H =10 cm. Distance from the shoreline
to the structure D was set at 20, 50, 80, and 150 cm. A
wave paddle was programmed to move back once slowly
and forward, with the paddle stroke set at 10, 15 and
20 cm. The incident wave broke in shallow water in
all cases, and hit the vertical wall (seawall). Part of the
wave then inundated the onshore area, hitting the vertical
wall (structure model) again. Wave gauges measured the
wave prole offshore and in shallowwater and inundation
depth onshore with and without a structure. Propeller cur-
rent meter determined velocity. Load cell measured wave
force on the model. Pressure gauges measured wave pres-
sure. Inundation depth and velocity onshore were mea-
sured under the same conditions of runup distance and
wave stroke without a structure.
We studied wave pressure on structures 20 cm onshore
from the shoreline, and wave stroke of 15 cm alone was
applied to avoid having waves overtop the model. Pres-
sure gauges were set for several lines as shown in Fig. 2 to
observe wave pressure for individual elements on the ex-
posed model area. Visual observation using a high-speed
camera (250 fps) determined the relationship of pressure
and waveform in front of the model.
404 Journal of Disaster Research Vol.4 No.6, 2009
Estimation of Tsunami Force Acting on Rectangular Structures
w
a
v
e

p
a
d
d
l
e
Soa
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8
2
888 1J6 181 8JO
696
686
Land
UolL . cm
66
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8O
B = 1O, 2O cm
w = 1O cm
H = 1O cm
w
B
H
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Fig. 1. Experimental setup.
Lloe 1 Lloe 2 Lloe 3 Lloe 4
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Fig. 2. Pressure gauge on the model.

3. Experiment Analysis and Discussion
3.1. Wave Pressure Time History and Total Force
Figure 3 shows the wave pressure time history along
line 1 and the total horizontal wave force measured using
a load cell. Individual curves were obtained by an en-
semble average of ve repeated measurements. The wave
force starts increasing earlier than the pressures because a
pressure gauge could not be set close enough to the bot-
tom of the model.
Two peaks appear in the wave pressure time history
at P5. Visual imaging by a high-speed camera showed
that peak 1 occurred at P5 when splashing in front of the
structure peaked, and that peak 2 occurred when splash-
ing rushed in with the main ow. We consider peak 1 to
be impact pressure and peak 2 to be maximum standing-
wave pressure. Maximum pressure above appears at 6.2
to 6.3 s, almost the same time as peak 2 at P5, but with a
small time gap. The wave pressure time gap exists both
in height and width. The time gap was due to the waves
complex movement when it hit a structure and due to the
waves irregularity. This is supported by visual observa-
tion in Fig. 4, in which the waveform in front of the struc-
ture is clearly not uniform in width.
6OO
4OO
3OO
2OO
1OO
O
P
r
e
s
s
u
r
e

(

P
a

)
8.O 7.6 7.O 6.6 6.O 6.6 6.O
Time ( s )
3.O
2.6
2.O
1.6
1.O
O.6
O.O
F
o
r
c
e

(

N

)
P1
P2
P3
P4
P5
Load cell
Standing wave
pressure
Impact pressure
Fig. 3. Wave pressure time history at line 1 for B = 20 cm
(center line).
(a)
(b)
Fig. 4. Splashing in front of the model. (a) B = 10 cm, (b)
B =20 cm.
Asakura et al. [1] proposed an empirical equation to
estimate maximum tsunami force by integrating the enve-
lope of maximum standing-wave pressure. Fig. 5 shows
the maximum pressure, including impact, observed in
measurement. The maximum pressure envelope obtained
by Asakura et al. is also shown, where is water den-
sity, g gravitational acceleration, z measurement height
from the bottom, p pressure, and h
i
inundation depth at
the point of interest in the absence of obstacles. Note
that subscript m is the maximum value in measured time
Journal of Disaster Research Vol.4 No.6, 2009 405