- Volumes 84-95 (2024)
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Volumes 72-83 (2023)
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Volume 83
Pages 1-258 (December 2023)
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Volume 82
Pages 1-204 (November 2023)
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Volume 81
Pages 1-188 (October 2023)
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Volume 80
Pages 1-202 (September 2023)
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Volume 79
Pages 1-172 (August 2023)
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Volume 78
Pages 1-146 (July 2023)
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Volume 77
Pages 1-152 (June 2023)
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Volume 76
Pages 1-176 (May 2023)
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Volume 75
Pages 1-228 (April 2023)
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Volume 74
Pages 1-200 (March 2023)
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Volume 73
Pages 1-138 (February 2023)
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Volume 72
Pages 1-144 (January 2023)
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Volume 83
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Volumes 60-71 (2022)
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Volume 71
Pages 1-108 (December 2022)
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Volume 70
Pages 1-106 (November 2022)
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Volume 69
Pages 1-122 (October 2022)
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Volume 68
Pages 1-124 (September 2022)
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Volume 67
Pages 1-102 (August 2022)
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Volume 66
Pages 1-112 (July 2022)
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Volume 65
Pages 1-138 (June 2022)
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Volume 64
Pages 1-186 (May 2022)
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Volume 63
Pages 1-124 (April 2022)
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Volume 62
Pages 1-104 (March 2022)
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Volume 61
Pages 1-120 (February 2022)
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Volume 60
Pages 1-124 (January 2022)
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Volume 71
- Volumes 54-59 (2021)
- Volumes 48-53 (2020)
- Volumes 42-47 (2019)
- Volumes 36-41 (2018)
- Volumes 30-35 (2017)
- Volumes 24-29 (2016)
- Volumes 18-23 (2015)
- Volumes 12-17 (2014)
- Volume 11 (2013)
- Volume 10 (2012)
- Volume 9 (2011)
- Volume 8 (2010)
- Volume 7 (2009)
- Volume 6 (2008)
- Volume 5 (2007)
- Volume 4 (2006)
- Volume 3 (2005)
- Volume 2 (2004)
- Volume 1 (2003)
The seaward slope of many breakwaters consists of thousands of interlocking units of rock or concrete comprising a massive granular system of large elements each weighing tens of tonnes. The dumped quarry materials in the core are protected by progressively coarser particulates. The outer armour layer of freely placed units is intended to both dissipate wave energy and remain structurally stable as strong flows are drawn in and out of the particulate core. Design guidance on the mass and shape of these units is based on empirical equations derived from scaled physical model tests. The main failure mode for armour layers exposed to severe storms is hydraulic instability where the armour units of concrete or rock are subjected to uplift and drag forces which can in turn lead to rocking, displacement and collisions sufficient to cause breakage of units. Recently invented armour unit designs making up such granular layered system owe much of their success to the desirable emergent properties of interlock and porosity and how these combine with individual unit structural strength and inertial mass. Fundamental understanding of the forces governing such wave–structure interaction remains poor. We use discrete element and combined finite-discrete element methods to model the granular solid skeleton of randomly packed units coupled to a CFD code which resolves the wave dynamics through an interface tracking technique. The CFD code exploits several methods including a compressive advection scheme, node movement, and general mesh optimization. We provide the engineering context and report progress towards the numerical modelling of instability in these massive granular systems.