This study deals expected sliding of breakwater within a period of service considering effects of climate change due to global warming. The influence of climatological change of sea level rise, storm surge and wave height on the breakwater stability is considered in detail. It is found that the impact of wave height change is the most significant than other components. The effects of climate change at the end of 21st century will increase the sliding distance with range of 0.2-1.8 m and it corresponds to 60-200% change in comparison with no-climate change condition. The influence of climate change for a period of break water service is necessary to be considered.

View full abstract

 Flow-induced vibration of an inverted pendulum is investigated through circulating water channel experiment to develop the hydrokinetic power generation based on the flow-induced vibration. The main body of the inverted pendulum is an air-filled hollow circular cylinder, and the buoyant force acts on the cylindrical body as the restoring force in the water. This buoyant force sustains the pendulum vibration without any spring system. The flow-induced vibration of the inverted pendulum can extract 76% of the hydrokinetic energy incoming to the projected area of the circular cylinder normal to the water flow. This high energy harvesting efficiency is caused by the large torque obtained from the rotational vibration of the elongate inverted pendulum.

View full abstract

 When a huge tsunami surges over coastal land areas, coastal industrial facilities such as electric power plants might be severely damaged, as was widely seen in the 2011 off the Pacific coast of Tohoku Earthquake. Even if high seawalls provide some protection from tsunamis, inundation caused by overflow through open sections via underground drainage channels could occur. It is therefore essential to estimate precisely the impact of such inundation on various important buildings and structures located in industrial facilities.
 To achieve this, the Integrated Urban Area Flood Estimation System, developed through the collaboration of Kajima Corporation and Chubu University, is employed. The system was originally devised for evaluating inland inundation in urban areas under heavy rain, but a numerical model of overflow via underground drainage channels has been proposed and implemented to extend its application to inundation of coastal industrial facilities following tsunamis. For verification of the proposed tsunami inundation simulation, hydraulic experiment for an idealized model of a power plant site was conducted. It was confirmed that the time series of water levels obtained by the experiment and the tsunami inundation simulation show very good agreement.

View full abstract