Loads on floating breakwaters: effect of layout under irregular waves

This note presents further experimental evidence on the effect of the layout on the mooring forces of floating breakwaters under irregular waves. The latest results, here summarized, have been obtained by means of physical model tests carried out on an L-shaped layout and are compared to data previously published by the authors. The experimental facility is located at the University of Padova, Italy. Results are given in non-dimensional form and concern the transmission phenomenon and the loads on mooring and tie rods interconnecting adjacent modules. It is confirmed that under more complex layouts, the wave transmission increases, due to smaller dissipation, maximum mooring forces decrease and link forces largely increase.