Segmented Concrete Armor Unit for Breakwater Stability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing armor units for breakwaters face challenges in achieving interlocking and stability, especially in low visibility and high wave conditions, leading to increased costs and potential structural failures due to displacement or breakage, and are difficult to fabricate and place correctly.
Innovation Solution
The design of a concrete armor unit with a central core and symmetrically placed frusta and extrusions that provide hydraulic stability and interlocking capabilities, while reducing the number of mold plates and concrete volume, allowing for easier fabrication and placement, even in adverse conditions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional armor units are used to protect rubble mound structures, then structural stability is improved, but manufacturing complexity and cost increase due to the need for numerous mold plates and precise fabrication
Solution Approach 1:
The armor unit is divided into a central core and multiple frusta that can be separately formed and assembled. This segmentation allows each component to be manufactured using simpler, fewer mold plates while maintaining the overall structural stability when assembled into the complete interlocking unit.
Solution Approach 2:
The frusta are extracted as separate formable components from the monolithic armor unit design. This extraction enables independent fabrication of the frusta using simplified molds, reducing the complexity and number of mold plates required while preserving the stabilizing function when the frusta are attached to the central core.
2Reliability
If conventional armor units with high concrete volume are used, then strength and stability are improved, but material cost and weight increase
Solution Approach 1:
Dividing the armor unit into a central core and frusta allows optimized concrete distribution. The frusta can be formed with thinner concrete sections compared to a solid monolithic unit, reducing total concrete volume while maintaining stability through the interlocking geometry and strategic placement of concrete in the central core.
Solution Approach 2:
The armor unit combines concrete frusta with a central core structure to create a composite design. This composite approach allows the frusta to provide geometric interlocking and stability with minimal concrete, while the central core provides additional structural support, achieving overall stability with reduced total concrete volume compared to conventional solid units.
3Ease of operation
If armor units are designed for interlocking in low visibility conditions, then placement ease is improved, but structural complexity increases to ensure proper interlocking
Solution Approach 1:
The segmented design with distinct frusta and central core creates naturally self-aligning components. The frusta are positioned at specific angles and locations that guide proper orientation during placement, enabling workers to achieve correct interlocking even in low visibility conditions without requiring complex alignment mechanisms or procedures.
Solution Approach 2:
The interlocking geometry of the frusta and central core is designed to be self-aligning during placement. The shapes and positions of the frusta naturally guide them into the correct orientation and position on the central core, allowing the structure to self-correct minor placement errors and eliminate the need for complex external alignment tools or procedures.
Data Source
AI summary
Armor units for rubble mound structures including breakwaters, revetments, groins, jetties, and the like. Embodiments are appropriate for ocean, river, lake and reservoir structure armoring, to prevent erosion from damaging hydrodynamic forces resulting from waves and water currents, and the like. An embodiment includes a central rectangular section, three “half H-shaped” appendages, optionally, one end frusta, and a flat bottom with two extrusions, nominally smaller than other appendages and frusta. An embodiment is symmetric about two perpendicularly intersecting vertical planes extending through the centroid of the unit. The three half H-shaped members are connected to outer parts of a side defined as the top and the two longitudinal sides of the central section. The three half H-shaped members comprise four-sided frusta that taper from a base at the central rectangular section to four-sided distal ends. For select embodiments, the frusta are generally symmetric.