Predicting wave erosion rates of soil bank based on energy method

Wave erosion is a major geological disaster that can affect the safety of reservoirs. With the long-term operation of reservoirs, wave-based erosion of the soil on reservoir slopes becomes increasingly hazardous. Thus, predicting wave erosion processes is important to ensure successful targeted disaster prevention and control regimes. However, the methods currently used for predicting this erosion are mostly based on empirical equations; thus, their universality is limited. Therefore, in this study, the concepts of wave erosion energy and soil anti-erosion energy were innovatively developed by utilizing the energy conservation method. These concepts were developed using a constructed equation for predicting the erosion rate of a soil bank subject to wave action as well as a model test of a wave erosion bank. The parameters of the prediction equation were solved and the reliability of the equation was verified. The wave climbing height and bank slope during wave erosion were approximately linearly correlated. The higher the wave energy, the larger the functional slope. When the banks were comparatively less steep, the erosion energy of the wave decreased, the anti-erosion energy of the soil increased, and the corresponding bank erosion rate slowed. When the erosion energy was equal to the anti-erosion energy, bank erosion ultimately reached a stable state. In comparing the results of the flume test with the predicted values, the proposed method for predicting the wave erosion rate of soil banks proved reliable.