Numerical investigation of dynamic soil response around a submerged rubble mound breakwater: II. Loose sandy seabed

Abstract Low-crested structures such as submerged rubble mound breakwaters (RMB) are commonly used as successful examples of coastal protection measures. This study addresses foundation issues related to the performance of a submerged RMB constructed on a liquefiable site where the foundation soils have been loosely deposited; these issues were investigated using an integrated numerical model proposed by Zhao et al. (2018). Unlike previous work in Zhao et al. (2018), the dynamic features of loose sand deposits (i.e. build-up of pore water pressures, development of plastic strains, degradation of soil stiffness) due to the fluid–seabed-structure interactions, accompanied by the onset of liquefaction, were simulated. The reliability of this model to predict the liquefaction susceptibility of loose sand deposits was validated against the experimental results available in literature. This study shows that the submerged RMB constructed on a liquefiable seabed experienced progressive and asymmetric downward settlement under successive loading cycles. The opposing currents in the wave field tended to enhance this asymmetric settlement whereas the following currents did the opposite. Regardless of changes to the magnitude and direction of current velocities, ignoring the currents in the wave field may lead to an overestimation of the increased rate of residual pore water pressures in the region underneath the breakwater, particularly in shallow soil layers where the maximum relative differences can reach up to 120% of ( p current − p no-current ) ∕ P 0 at t ∕ T =25.