Abstract

The influence of a building array on tsunami-driven run-up loads is studied through laboratory experiments and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations. Results show that the number of rows of buildings providing shelter is an explanatory variable for the maximum wave run-up load reduction. Load Reduction Factors (LRF) are defined, with values monotonically decreasing as the number of rows providing shelter increases. The effect of the building array on maximum inundation levels, maximum cross-shore velocity, and maximum momentum flux is studied, finding that these hydrodynamics properties have larger magnitudes when compared to bare earth values. A brief discussion about the effect of the cross-shore distance between rows, the width of the structures in the frontmost row, and the offset between rows is presented. Under the wave conditions and the geometry tested, maximum wave loading is decreased up to about 4 times when 4 or more rows are providing shelter, with most of the load reduction taking place in the first 4 rows. When more than 4 rows are providing shelter to a structure of interest, Load Reduction Factors decrease weakly with the number of rows providing shelter. Although the present analysis has limitations in terms of geometry and wave conditions and more tests have to be conducted to draw conclusions for a wider range of conditions, it shows experimental and numerical evidence that maximum wave loading on structures can be strongly affected when they are part of a building array.