Time: June 3, 2026, 10:00–11:00
Venue: Room 1409
Speaker: Chen Hao

Speaker Biography:
Dr. Chen Hao is an Assistant Professor at Newcastle University in Singapore. He received his Master's degree in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering from Chalmers University of Technology and his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the Technical University of Denmark. His research primarily focuses on coastal and marine hydrodynamics, with a particular interest in advancing sustainable marine and offshore systems. He specializes in computational fluid dynamics, wave–structure interaction, high-resolution turbulence simulation, and data-driven modeling for complex marine and coastal engineering problems. He has published or co-authored over 40 peer-reviewed journal papers and serves as an external reviewer for several leading international journals. In addition, he actively contributes to the international academic community as a guest editor, conference session chair, scientific committee member, and invited speaker at international marine and offshore engineering conferences.

Abstract:
Wave overtopping on coastal structures involves highly transient shallow-water flows characterized by intense free-surface deformation, turbulence generation, and rapid energy dissipation. Although extensive research has been conducted on overtopping discharge and volumes, a detailed understanding of the kinematics and turbulence characteristics of the overtopping flow remains limited. This study employs a two-phase wall-resolved large-eddy simulation (LES) framework implemented in OpenFOAM to systematically investigate wave overtopping flows on a sea dike under regular wave conditions. The numerical model has been rigorously validated against laboratory measurements, including overtopping layer thickness and high-speed particle image velocimetry (PIV) velocity fields, showing good agreement with experimental data in terms of free-surface evolution and overtopping flow kinematics. The results reveal that the overtopping flow exhibits significant phase dependence, with the streamwise velocity component being dominant, and that turbulent fluctuations are primarily concentrated near the free surface and the bottom during peak overtopping phases. The flow displays strong supercritical characteristics at the upstream edge of the dike crest, while the Froude number gradually decreases downstream due to bottom friction and turbulent dissipation. The bottom shear stress is highly transient, with instantaneous peak values significantly exceeding the corresponding mean values. Turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) analysis indicates that resolved turbulent motions account for the majority of the total TKE. The TKE budget analysis further reveals that turbulence production and transport terms are most significant during the active wave-breaking phase.