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Breaker Height Index Formula:
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The Breaker Height Index is the ratio of wave height and still water depth at the shore face location where waves start breaking. It provides a dimensionless parameter that characterizes wave breaking conditions in coastal engineering.
The calculator uses the Breaker Height Index formula:
Where:
Explanation: The equation calculates the ratio between the wave height at the breaking point and the deep-water wavelength, providing a measure of wave breaking intensity.
Details: Accurate Breaker Height Index calculation is crucial for coastal engineering, shoreline protection design, sediment transport studies, and predicting wave behavior in nearshore environments.
Tips: Enter wave height at incipient breaking in meters and deep-water wavelength in meters. Both values must be positive numbers greater than zero.
Q1: What is the typical range of Breaker Height Index values?
A: Breaker Height Index typically ranges from 0.1 to 0.8, with higher values indicating more intense wave breaking conditions.
Q2: How is Wave Height at Incipient Breaking measured?
A: It is typically measured through field observations, laboratory experiments, or calculated using wave transformation models.
Q3: What factors influence the Breaker Height Index?
A: Beach slope, wave period, water depth, and bottom topography are key factors that influence the Breaker Height Index.
Q4: How is Deep-Water Wavelength determined?
A: Deep-water wavelength is calculated from the wave period using the relationship \( \lambda_o = \frac{gT^2}{2\pi} \), where g is gravity and T is wave period.
Q5: What are the practical applications of Breaker Height Index?
A: It is used in coastal structure design, beach erosion studies, surf zone dynamics analysis, and recreational water safety assessments.