Various models of Navy waterfront structures are presented and employed to assess their effectiveness in predicting the vulnerability of these systems to operational and earthquake loads. The emphasis is on application of three dimensional finite element models to reinforced concrete structural analysis. Results indicate that dynamic analysis is important in the calculation of the structural response of both a drydock and a blocked vessel in drydock. The primary natural frequencies and natural mode shapes for a drydock are longitudinal deformation modes which cannot be predicted by current methodology based upon statically equivalent analysis of two dimensional models. Further results from nonlinear analysis provide new insight into the behavior of the drydock/caisson seal for hydrostatic loads, which is dramatically different from that which underlies current design and maintenance procedures. Similarly, results from a three-dimensional nonlinear static analysis of a scale model of a reinforced concrete pier deck, subjected to punching shear failure loads, are shown to compare well with experimental data. Modern three-dimensional finite element technology is appropriate for analysis of waterfront structures.
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