Experimental study of wave impact on a vertical wall with overhanging horizontal cantilever slab and structural response analysis

Two-dimensional model test of a vertical wall with overhanging horizontal cantilever slab has been carried out with the scale factor of 1:30. Different influences of wave condition and structural geometry on wave load are investigated. Wave pressure of cantilever slab highly depends on structural clearance and reaches the peak when clearance close to 0.2 times wave height. Larger wave steepness is responsible for larger wave pressure for vertical wall. With the increasing length of slab, wave forces are reduced on slab while enlarged on vertical wall. Besides, a negative correlation between rise frequency and rise time is observed and corresponding empirical formula has been proposed. Through finite element analysis, the structural response of a simple plate under wave load has been studied. In general, the cut-off frequency has a dramatic effect on the dynamic magnification factor, where the actual dynamic response keeps stable when cut-off frequency larger than 4 times structural natural frequency. Finally, it is adoptable to determine the adequacy of the structure under wave load by considering the quasi-static wave load and corresponding impact factor from 2.0 to 6.0.