Experimental study of the interaction between tsunami bores and 3D jetty models

Tsunami bores have a strong destructive ability, capable of damaging coastal structures and endangering human life. This study focuses on the interactions between tsunami bores and 3D jetty models through physical experiments. The characteristics of tsunami bores travelling at different initial water depths (IWL) were examined. The distributions of slamming pressure and quasi-steady pressure on the jetty deck in different directions were assessed. The results showed that the initial water depths, deck heights (hd) and slope angles (θ) had significant influences on the slamming pressure. New equations were proposed to calculate the tsunami slamming pressures and quasi-steady pressures on the jetty decks. The energy loss coefficients k1 (ranging from 0.40 to 0.80) and k5 (ranging from 0.65 to 0.90) are related to the initial water depth, which was found to be essential for the calculation accuracy of tsunami pressures on the jetty, and the errors were within ±20%. •Froude number of dam break-induced bores is investigated for different initial water depths.•3D jetty models are used to investigate the influence of lateral flows.•Effects of bore height, deck height, slope angles, and initial water depths on jetty loads are investigated.•Considering the energy loss coefficients, equations are proposed to calculate tsunami pressures on deck.