Measuring wave impact induced pressures with a pressure mapping system

The use of a pressure mapping system for measuring wave impact induced pressures is evaluated in this paper. A set-up and a calibration methodology are suggested and employed for this work. The system is validated against pressure transducer and load cell measurements and for a range of waves breaking on a vertical seawall. For a large number (120 measurements for each case considered) of breaking and broken waves interacting with the wall, the peak pressure (P-peak)1 profiles and the pressure distribution maps reported by the system agree well with results acquired using pressure transducers. Although the pressure mapping system tends to underestimate P-peak, differences on the mean of the 3,5 and 10 highest P-peak range within +/- 10%, while for the majority of the measurements the error on the integral of the acting pressures (the acting force compared with the force measured bythe load cell) ranges within +/- 20%. It is concluded, that through careful calibration and set-up the pressure mapping system has the capacity to provide pressure distribution maps with a good accuracy. It is not, however, considered to constitute the absolute alternative to pressure transducers and thus a combined use is suggested for applications where a very high level of accuracy is required. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.