Accurate prediction of maximum scour depth is important for the optimum design of seawall structure. Owing to the complex interaction of the incident waves, sediment bed, and seawalls, the prediction of the scour depth is not an easy task to accomplish. Undermining the recent experimental and numerical advancement, the available empirical equations have limited accuracy and applicability. The aim of this study is to investigate the application of robust data-mining methods including genetic programming (GP) and artificial neural networks (ANNs) for predicting the maximum scour depth at seawalls under the broken and breaking waves action. The performance of GP and ANNs models has been compared with the existing empirical formulas employing statistical measures. The results indicated that both the GP and ANNs models functioned significantly better than the existing empirical formulas. Furthermore, the capability of GP was used to produce meaningful mathematical rules, and an analytical formula for predicting the maximum scour depth at seawalls under breaking and broken waves' attacks was developed by utilizing GP.
INTRODUCTION
Coastal protection structures such as seawalls and breakwaters are constructed to protect harbors and coasts against attack from waves and to provide a self-sheltered area. The malfunction of coastal structures can result in major socio-economic and environmental problems such as coastal inundation and flooding. The design and construction of coastal protection structures are very costly and time-consuming, and they require skilled labor, therefore, the optimum design of such structures is essential. Scour at seawalls is one of the most important aspects of the stability of the structure. Oumeraci (1994) and Lillycrop & Hughes (1993) claim that scour can cause significant structural instability which can lead to structural failure. Hence, predicting scour depth at seawalls is of great importance in the coastal engineering discipline. The incident wave climate, geomorphological properties of sediment bed, and structural configurations are key parameters in the prediction of the scour depth at seawalls.
Several studies have been conducted on the non-breaking wave-induced scour at coastal structures (e.g., De Best et al. 1971; Xie 1981, 1985; Sumer & Fredsøe 2000; Sumer et al. 2005; Lee & Mizutani 2008); conversely, there are few studies available on the broken wave-induced scour. For the case of the non-breaking wave, it is shown that the scour and sediment deposition patterns in front of the coastal structures are governed by the action of standing waves. However, broken wave-induced scour patterns are different from those of non-breaking waves (Tsai et al. 2009).
Comparing the results of Fowler (1992) with Sutherland et al. (2006) shows that the relative scour depth increases with the increase in the relative water depth at the toe for htoe/Lp ≤ 0.12, and decreases with an increase in the relative water depth for htoe/Lp ≥ 0.12. It is also evident that the scour depth due to plunging breaker is larger than that of spilling breaker.
In recent years, numerical models have been employed to predict the scour depth around coastal structures. Gislason et al. (2000), Chen (2006), and Hajivalie et al. (2012) developed numerical models to study the scour in front of breakwaters under non-breaking wave action. The application of numerical models is mainly limited, due to mathematical complexity of modeling scour parameters and time intensity of simulation runtime. Soft computing methods such as artificial neural networks (ANNs), ANFIS and genetic programming (GP) do not have the complexity of numerical models, therefore they have been employed for the prediction of scour depth (e.g., Kambekar & Deo 2003; Azamathullah et al. 2005; Azamathulla et al. 2008, 2010; Guven et al. 2009; Kazeminezhad et al. 2010; Etemad-Shahidi & Ghaemi 2011; Zanganeh et al. 2011; Azamathulla 2012a, 2012b; Guven & Azamathulla 2012; Yeganeh-Bakhtiary et al. 2012; Pourzangbar et al. 2013).
Although in several studies soft computing methods were employed to predict the scour depth at hydraulic structures, there is no study available yet which employed soft computing methods to predict the scour depth at seawalls under the broken waves' attack. The main purpose of this study is to develop a robust model for the prediction of scour depth at seawalls under the breaking and broken waves' attack. Hence, the capabilities of GP and ANN were tested for developing an accurate and comprehensive predictive model.
GP developed by Koza (1992) is a generalized form of genetic algorithm (GA) (Goldberg 1989). The main advantage of the GP models is the capability of providing meaningful mathematical expressions. Recently, GP has been employed successfully in suspended sediment modeling (Aytek & Kisi 2008), determination of the most effective parameters (Pourzangbar 2012), seawater level forecasting (Ghorbani et al. 2010), short-term water table depth fluctuations' prediction (Shiri & Kisi 2011), horizontal intakes in open channel flow (Azamathulla & Ahmad 2012), and reservoir operation (Fallah-Mehdipour et al. 2013). In the current study, the models are trained and tested by applying the data from Fowler (1992), Sutherland et al. (2006), and Tsai et al.’s (2009) experimental data sets. To verify the developed models, the predicted results were compared with those of the measurements and empirical relations.
GP AND ANN DEVELOPMENT
Genetic programming
GP, first developed by Koza (1992), is a robust method employed for prediction, classification, and function finding. GP is a generalized form of genetic algorithms (Goldberg 1989); however, there are differences between GP and GA, due to the nature of data representation and final solutions. In GP, the individuals are non-linear chromosomes with different sizes and shapes (called parse trees); however, the individuals have linear structures and fixed size in GA. Moreover, unlike GA and the soft computing methods like ANNs, there is no presumptive structure about the relationship between the independent and dependent variables in GP, but the appropriate objective function and its coefficients and parameters can be determined for any given data set. During the training step, the outcome of GP is called solution, and it is in the form of a parse tree or a mathematical expression, is continually evolving and never fixed. The GP model has two components: (1) the functional set of operators such as arithmetic operations ( −, +, ×, ÷), logical functions, mathematical functions (, tan x, sin h x, x2, …) and domain specific functions; and (2) the independent and dependent variables and the random coefficients and the constant values referred to as the terminal set.
GP must accomplish the process of evolution consisting of a step-by-step procedure as below:
1. Creating an initially selected random population of the models (solutions) by randomly picking up the defined variables and operations.
In this step, GP produces a certain number of models (referred to as the initial population) by randomly combining the independent variables, constants, and defined operations.
2. Evaluating the fitness of each model (solution or individual) by using a fitness function like root mean square error (RMSE) and selecting out the parents (the individuals who deserve to yield offspring (new solutions)).
The process of parent selection includes various selection methods, two of which are: ranking in which the models are selected based on their fitness values and better performances, and tournament which is selecting the fittest models as the parents by randomly picking up a certain number of models for special times.
3. Producing new individuals by applying the GP operators to the parents.
The most famous operations used in GP are as shown below:
Crossover: This operation produces two offspring by replacing the two parts (the crossover fragments) of two parents. In other words, the former offspring is produced by replacing the crossover fragment of the first parent with the crossover fragment of the second one (Koza 1992).
Mutation: This operation causes a random change in the structure of a parent. In other words, an offspring is produced by removing a random part of a parent (the function or the terminal referred to as the mutation point) and inserting another randomly generated sub-tree at that point.
Reproduction: It has an effect on one parent and produces a child. Reproduction is responsible for keeping a parent in the new population without alteration.
4. Repeating the production of offspring by following steps 2 and 3 up to a certain number (the generation number) and replacing the new offspring with the previous ones.
5. Iterating the mentioned process (steps 2 to 4) until the termination condition, e.g., the maximum number of generation or fitness function performance, is satisfied (Ferreira 2006).
In order to solve a problem using GP, the user must accomplish the following preparatory steps.
Determining the set of terminals that correspond to the independent and dependent variables.
Determining the set of functions, which is rather challenging since the inappropriate function set may change the problem entity, therefore the function set is based on the previous investigations and existing equations in this study.
Defining the fitness measure, which evaluates how good a particular evolved model can solve the problem. (In this study, RMSE has been chosen as the fitness function.)
Determining the controlling parameters, such as the chromosomal architecture, the genetic operators' rates, and the genes linking function.
These parameters can be used to control the run. One of the main problems related to the GP application is called bloat phenomenon. During bloat phenomenon, the program size (depth of parse trees) starts growing without any corresponding improvement in the model fitness. The bloat phenomenon results in the nested models that are hard to interpret and are computationally expensive. The nested models may give no sense about the physical basis of the studied phenomenon (Poli & McPhee 2008). Applying parsimony pressure coefficient to the GP models may be regarded as a proper method to the limitation of the parse tree depth as described by Poli & McPhee (2008).
Choosing the termination condition for terminating a run and accepting the result. (According to Koza (1992), a specified maximum number of generations or specified perfect level of performance can be the most proper criterion to stop the current run.)
The functional set and the operational parameters used in the GP modeling during this study are presented in Table 1. Other parameters are the default values of version 4.0.954 (Enterprise Edition) of GeneXpro Tools (2006) software application, which is used in this study to evolve the GP models.
Characteristics of employed GP
Parameter . | Description of parameter . | Setting of parameter . |
---|---|---|
P1 | Function set | |
P2 | Number of chromosomes | 30 |
P3 | Head size | 8 |
P4 | Number of genes | 3 |
P5 | Linking function | Addition |
P6 | Fitness function | RMSE |
P7 | Mutation rate | 0.044 |
P8 | One-point and two-point recombination | 0.3 |
P9 | Gene transposition | 0.1 |
P10 | Constants per gene | 2 |
P11 | Range of constants | −10 to 10 |
Parameter . | Description of parameter . | Setting of parameter . |
---|---|---|
P1 | Function set | |
P2 | Number of chromosomes | 30 |
P3 | Head size | 8 |
P4 | Number of genes | 3 |
P5 | Linking function | Addition |
P6 | Fitness function | RMSE |
P7 | Mutation rate | 0.044 |
P8 | One-point and two-point recombination | 0.3 |
P9 | Gene transposition | 0.1 |
P10 | Constants per gene | 2 |
P11 | Range of constants | −10 to 10 |
Artificial neural networks
ANNs are the new versions of the parallel information processing systems that simulate the human brain behavior to provide a random mapping between an input vector and an output one. Similar to the human brain, which is composed of more than 10 billion interconnected cells (called neurons), ANNs are composed of a certain number of computational elements called neurons (the detailed information of ANN structure and modeling process is available in the Appendix, available with the online version of this paper).
Feed-forward network with standard back propagation algorithm is the most commonly used neural network in many studies (Jain & Deo 2007). In this study, a three-layer feed-forward network with Levenberg–Marquardt back propagation training algorithm is employed for the prediction of scour depth at seawalls under the broken waves' action. The optimized network was achieved by decreasing gradient weight and bias learning function. The learning rate and the iteration, resulting from the trial-and-error process, were 0.01 and 1,000, respectively. The log-sigmoid function was also employed in the optimum network as a transfer function.
EFFECTIVE PARAMETERS

It is indicated that the pattern of sediment erosion and deposition is significantly affected by the mode of sediment transport. Also, in the case of the broken wave-induced scour, the wave breaking and turbulence result in suspended sediment transport. Therefore, the characteristics of the broken wave and turbulence are more dominant than the wave shear stress or Shields parameter (Sutherland et al. 2006). The normalized water depths at the toe (htoe/L0), the breaking point (hb/L0), and the normalized breaking wave height (Hb/L0) indicate the interaction between the broken wave and bed sediment.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Available experimental data
The key mechanism of breaking wave-induced scour is completely different from that of non-breaking wave-induced scour. In other words, in order to have a physically sound prediction, only the breaking waves' data set must be utilized for scour due to breaking waves. Therefore, in this paper, only breaking waves' data set is used for developing models with ANN and GP.
The waves' regularity only affects the amount of maximum scour depth, and it does not have any influence on the scour physics. For instance, the maximum scour depths associated with regular waves are larger than those of irregular waves (Sumer & Fredsøe 2000). Therefore, both regular and irregular waves are used to develop predictive models in this paper. In brief, in this paper, only the breaking/broken waves' data set is used for developing models. This data set includes the regular and irregular waves.
According to previously mentioned statements, in this study, the broken or breaking waves data sets of Fowler (1992), Sutherland et al. (2006), and Tsai et al. (2009) were used for developing both the ANN and GP models. Fowler's data set includes 18 tests with irregular waves and 4 tests with regular waves for the vertical seawall (Fowler 1992). Sutherland et al.'s data set contains 35 tests under irregular waves' attack for the vertical and inclined (1:2 slope) front-wall slopes (Sutherland et al. 2006). Tsai et al. (2009) performed 25 tests for scour under regular wave conditions, mainly for non-breaking waves on seawalls. In total, 41 data points related to the breaking/broken waves scour are used to develop the models.
The data range of modeling parameters for training and testing are presented in Table 2. The training data sets contain 70% of the whole data (28 data points) and the remaining 30% (13 data points) are employed for testing.
Ranges of the parameters employed to train and test the GP and ANN models
Parameters . | Train range . | Test range . | Minimum . | Average . | Maximum . |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cr | 0.260–0.576 | 0.270–0.576 | 0.260 | 0.397 | 0.576 |
Irb | 0.057–0.870 | 0.061–0.780 | 0.057 | 0.272 | 0.870 |
Hb/L0 | 0.016–0.087 | 0.009–0.087 | 0.016 | 0.044 | 0.087 |
hb/L0 | 0.019–0.094 | 0.009–0.094 | 0.009 | 0.048 | 0.094 |
htoe/L0 | −0.009–0.073 | −0.009–0.055 | −0.009 | 0.023 | 0.073 |
D50/H0 | 0.0004–0.0016 | 0.0004–0.0016 | 0.0004 | 0.0006 | 0.0016 |
Smax/Ho | 0.125–0.782 | 0.194–0.803 | 0.125 | 0.450 | 0.803 |
Parameters . | Train range . | Test range . | Minimum . | Average . | Maximum . |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cr | 0.260–0.576 | 0.270–0.576 | 0.260 | 0.397 | 0.576 |
Irb | 0.057–0.870 | 0.061–0.780 | 0.057 | 0.272 | 0.870 |
Hb/L0 | 0.016–0.087 | 0.009–0.087 | 0.016 | 0.044 | 0.087 |
hb/L0 | 0.019–0.094 | 0.009–0.094 | 0.009 | 0.048 | 0.094 |
htoe/L0 | −0.009–0.073 | −0.009–0.055 | −0.009 | 0.023 | 0.073 |
D50/H0 | 0.0004–0.0016 | 0.0004–0.0016 | 0.0004 | 0.0006 | 0.0016 |
Smax/Ho | 0.125–0.782 | 0.194–0.803 | 0.125 | 0.450 | 0.803 |
Model assessment
This paper presents both the GP and ANN approaches for predicting the relative maximum scour depth (Smax/H0) at seawalls. The models are developed by utilizing different combinations of the governing parameters (Equation (10)). The developed models indicated that the relative scour depth was not sensitive to the normalized mean diameter of the bed sediment (d50/H0); moreover, applying d50/H0 as the input parameter led to more complex models with no considerable increase in accuracy. Thus, the effect of sediment size on the relative scour depth is negligible because the range of the sediment size is very low (0.0004–0.0016) in the experimental data set utilized for developing the ANN and GP models. All of the parameters in Equation (10), except the normalized sediment size (d50/H0), were used for developing the GP and ANN models.
Trial and error for determining the best number of hidden layer neurons of the employed ANN model
Hidden layer neurons' number . | Data set . | CC . | RMSE . | SI . | BIAS . |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
3 | Training data set | 0.855 | 0.096 | 21.57% | −0.012 |
Testing data set | 0.862 | 0.115 | 24.74% | −0.070 | |
All data sets | 0.846 | 0.102 | 22.61% | −0.029 | |
4 | Training data set | 0.913 | 0.075 | 16.84% | −0.010 |
Testing data set | 0.885 | 0.102 | 21.93% | −0.064 | |
All data sets | 0.895 | 0.084 | 18.58% | −0.026 | |
5 | Training data set | 0.726 | 0.135 | 30.28% | 0.039 |
Testing data set | 0.961 | 0.050 | 10.75% | −0.009 | |
All data sets | 0.779 | 0.116 | 25.84% | 0.025 |
Hidden layer neurons' number . | Data set . | CC . | RMSE . | SI . | BIAS . |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
3 | Training data set | 0.855 | 0.096 | 21.57% | −0.012 |
Testing data set | 0.862 | 0.115 | 24.74% | −0.070 | |
All data sets | 0.846 | 0.102 | 22.61% | −0.029 | |
4 | Training data set | 0.913 | 0.075 | 16.84% | −0.010 |
Testing data set | 0.885 | 0.102 | 21.93% | −0.064 | |
All data sets | 0.895 | 0.084 | 18.58% | −0.026 | |
5 | Training data set | 0.726 | 0.135 | 30.28% | 0.039 |
Testing data set | 0.961 | 0.050 | 10.75% | −0.009 | |
All data sets | 0.779 | 0.116 | 25.84% | 0.025 |
Performance indices of various approaches in prediction of relative scour depth
Model (Equation) . | Used data set . | CC . | RMSE . | SI . | BIAS . |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
ANN | Testing data set | 0.885 | 0.102 | 21.93% | −0.064 |
All data sets | 0.895 | 0.084 | 18.58% | −0.026 | |
GP | Testing data set | 0.896 | 0.095 | 19.95% | −0.023 |
All data sets | 0.912 | 0.075 | 16.71% | −0.0003 | |
Fowler (1992) data set | 0.863 | 0.109 | 21.92% | 0.023 | |
Sutherland et al. (2006) data set | 0.924 | 0.078 | 18.50% | −0.023 | |
Fowler | Fowler (1992) data set | 0.850 | 0.121 | 23.35% | 0.031 |
All data sets | 0.164 | 0.536 | 119.1% | 0.369 | |
Sutherland et al. (2006) | Sutherland et al. (2006) data set | 0.792 | 0.140 | 31.47% | −0.071 |
All data sets | 0.043 | 0.355 | 75.1% | 0.049 |
Model (Equation) . | Used data set . | CC . | RMSE . | SI . | BIAS . |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
ANN | Testing data set | 0.885 | 0.102 | 21.93% | −0.064 |
All data sets | 0.895 | 0.084 | 18.58% | −0.026 | |
GP | Testing data set | 0.896 | 0.095 | 19.95% | −0.023 |
All data sets | 0.912 | 0.075 | 16.71% | −0.0003 | |
Fowler (1992) data set | 0.863 | 0.109 | 21.92% | 0.023 | |
Sutherland et al. (2006) data set | 0.924 | 0.078 | 18.50% | −0.023 | |
Fowler | Fowler (1992) data set | 0.850 | 0.121 | 23.35% | 0.031 |
All data sets | 0.164 | 0.536 | 119.1% | 0.369 | |
Sutherland et al. (2006) | Sutherland et al. (2006) data set | 0.792 | 0.140 | 31.47% | −0.071 |
All data sets | 0.043 | 0.355 | 75.1% | 0.049 |
Comparison between measured and predicted relative maximum scour depth (Smax/H0) by GP for (a) test data set and (b) all data sets.
Comparison between measured and predicted relative maximum scour depth (Smax/H0) by GP for (a) test data set and (b) all data sets.
Comparison between measured and predicted relative maximum scour depth (Smax/H0) by ANN for (a) test data set and (b) all data sets.
Comparison between measured and predicted relative maximum scour depth (Smax/H0) by ANN for (a) test data set and (b) all data sets.
Comparison between measured and predicted relative maximum scour depth (Smax/H0) for all data sets by (a) Fowler (1992) and (b) Sutherland et al. (2006).
Comparison between measured and predicted relative maximum scour depth (Smax/H0) for all data sets by (a) Fowler (1992) and (b) Sutherland et al. (2006).
Comparison between measured and predicted relative maximum scour depth (Smax/H0) by GP and empirical equations for (a) Fowler (1992) data set and (b) Sutherland et al. (2006) data set.
Comparison between measured and predicted relative maximum scour depth (Smax/H0) by GP and empirical equations for (a) Fowler (1992) data set and (b) Sutherland et al. (2006) data set.
Variation of the predicted scour depth, using the GP evolved model (Equation (15)): (a) against the reflection coefficient for hb/L0, htoe/L0, Hb/L0, and Irb equal to 0.017, 0.006, 0.016, and 0.258, respectively, and (b) against hb/L0 for Cr, htoe/L0, Hb/L0, and Irb equal to 0.4, 0.037, 0.039, and 0.066, respectively.
Variation of the predicted scour depth, using the GP evolved model (Equation (15)): (a) against the reflection coefficient for hb/L0, htoe/L0, Hb/L0, and Irb equal to 0.017, 0.006, 0.016, and 0.258, respectively, and (b) against hb/L0 for Cr, htoe/L0, Hb/L0, and Irb equal to 0.4, 0.037, 0.039, and 0.066, respectively.
The variation of the predicted scour depth, using the GP evolved model (Equation (15)): (a) against the relative water depth at the toe (htoe/L0) for Cr, hb/L0, Hb/L0, and Irb equal to 0.349, 0.061, 0.066, and 0.78, respectively, and (b) against Irb for Cr, htoe/L0, Hb/L0, and hb/L0 equal to 0.27, 0.006, 0.016, and 0.017, respectively.
The variation of the predicted scour depth, using the GP evolved model (Equation (15)): (a) against the relative water depth at the toe (htoe/L0) for Cr, hb/L0, Hb/L0, and Irb equal to 0.349, 0.061, 0.066, and 0.78, respectively, and (b) against Irb for Cr, htoe/L0, Hb/L0, and hb/L0 equal to 0.27, 0.006, 0.016, and 0.017, respectively.
As mentioned earlier, the GP evolved equations are very accurate and physically sound. Nevertheless, as indicated in Equation (15), the GP models are mathematically complicated, so their interpretation is not as easy as the empirical formulas. The main reason for producing complicated equations by GP is due to the GP concept. For evolving models, GP uses a set of input parameters, operations, and functions. The best combination of the mentioned variables results in a GP final model. Moreover, ANN is like a black box model. However, the GP and ANN models' accuracy and capability in predicting various phenomena have been proven in many studies. The GP evolved model (Equation (15)) is completely meaningful, in such a way that the variation trend of maximum scour depth against input parameters are closely aligned with the experimental results (Figures 6 and 7). Moreover, it is comparable with the existing empirical formulas from the viewpoint of accuracy, applicability, and reliability. Regarding the mentioned factors, the GP evolved model (Equation (15)) can be seen as a better option to the existing empirical equations and can be complementary to them in predicting maximum scour depth under the action of breaking waves.
Sensitivity analysis
Average percentage change (APC) in relative scour depth due to variation of variable values
Considered variable . | Percentage change in variable (Equation (16)) . | Significance order . | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
− 15 . | − 10 . | − 5 . | + 5 . | + 10 . | + 15 . | ||
Cr | −10.399 | −6.485 | −3.076 | 2.897 | 5.765 | 8.763 | 1 |
Irb | 2.312 | 1.532 | 0.762 | −0.753 | −1.498 | −2.234 | 4 |
Hb/L0 | −0.457 | −0.288 | −0.136 | 0.123 | 0.236 | 0.338 | 5 |
hb/L0 | −3.889 | −2.548 | −1.253 | 1.214 | 2.392 | 3.537 | 2 |
htoe/L0 | −3.144 | −2.109 | −1.061 | 1.075 | 2.165 | 3.269 | 3 |
Considered variable . | Percentage change in variable (Equation (16)) . | Significance order . | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
− 15 . | − 10 . | − 5 . | + 5 . | + 10 . | + 15 . | ||
Cr | −10.399 | −6.485 | −3.076 | 2.897 | 5.765 | 8.763 | 1 |
Irb | 2.312 | 1.532 | 0.762 | −0.753 | −1.498 | −2.234 | 4 |
Hb/L0 | −0.457 | −0.288 | −0.136 | 0.123 | 0.236 | 0.338 | 5 |
hb/L0 | −3.889 | −2.548 | −1.253 | 1.214 | 2.392 | 3.537 | 2 |
htoe/L0 | −3.144 | −2.109 | −1.061 | 1.075 | 2.165 | 3.269 | 3 |
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
This study explored the capabilities of GP and ANN methods for predicting the broken wave-induced scour depth at seawalls. The laboratory data sets of Fowler (1992), Sutherland et al. (2006), and Tsai et al. (2009) were used for developing the models. Statistical error measures were utilized for determining the performance of the GP and ANN models and comparing it with the empirical formulas. The result obtained clearly shows that the GP and ANN models are more accurate when compared to the empirical relations, while the relative scour depth proposed by the GP model achieved higher accuracy than those of the ANN predictions. In addition to higher accuracy, the main advantage of GP, unlike ANNs, is to make predictions by generating simple and meaningful mathematical expression, which can be utilized in predicting the scour depth for a wide range of data.
Further analyses of the results reveal that the effect of the normalized mean diameter of sediment (d50/H0) on the relative scour depth (Smax/H0) was negligible. Therefore, the prediction models were developed utilizing the effective parameters on the relative scour depth (Smax/H0) including the relative water depth at the toe (htoe/L0), the reflection coefficient (Cr), the relative water depth at the breaking point (hb/L0), the normalized broken wave height (Hb/L0), and the breaking surf similarity parameter (Irb). The proposed formula by GP fits well with the developed concepts in laboratory studies. The significance of the input parameters on the relative scour depth was evaluated with a sensitivity analysis. The results of sensitivity analysis show that the relative scour depth (Smax/H0) is mainly influenced by the reflection coefficient, and the relative water depth at the breaking point. Despite better performance of the GP model in comparison to that of the ANN predictions of relative scour depth, both the GP and ANN models are promising techniques for predicting the broken wave-induced scour at seawalls. However, one of the obvious limitations of this work is that quite a small data set was used. It can be recommended to carry out studies with larger data sets when they become available.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors would like to extend their special thanks to Professor Solomatine as the Editor of Journal of Hydroinformatics for handling this paper. In addition, the authors would like to sincerely thank Professors J. Fowler, J. Sutherland, C. Obhrai, R. J. S. Whitehouse, A. M. C. Pearace, C. P. Tsai, and H. B. Chen for providing their valuable experimental data for this paper.