Comparison Study and Forensic Analysis between Experiment and Coupled Dynamics Simulation for Submerged Floating Tunnel Segment with Free Ends under Wave Excitations

This paper presents dynamic-behavior comparisons and related forensic analyses of a submerged floating tunnel(SFT)between numerical simulation and physical experiment under regular and irregular waves.The experiments are conducted in the 3Dwave tank with 1:33.3 scale,and the corresponding coupled time-domain simulation tool is devised for comparison.The entire SFT systemconsists of a long concrete tunnel and 12 tubular aluminummooring lines.Two numerical simulation models,the Cummins equation with 3D potential theory including second-order wave-body interaction effects and the much simpler Morison-equation-based formula with the lumped-massbased line model,are designed and compared.Forensic analyses for mooring-line adjustments in the simulation are carried out in view of the best representation of the physical system.After that,the measured pre-tension distribution and systemstiffness of twelvemooring lines arewell reproduced in the numericalmodel.Subsequently,the dynamic responses and mooring tensions of the SFT are compared under regular and irregular waves.The measured and simulated results coincide reasonably well for both regular-and irregular-wave conditions.

The Effect of Key Design Parameters on the Global Performance of Submerged Floating Tunnel under Target Wave and Earthquake Excitations

This study presents a practical design strategy for a large-size Submerged Floating Tunnel(SFT)under different target environments through global-performance simulations.A coupled time-domain simulation model for SFT is established to check hydro-elastic behaviors under the design random wave and earthquake excitations.The tunnel and mooring lines are modeled with a finite-element line model based on a series of lumped masses connected by axial,bending,and torsional springs,and thus the dynamic/structural deformability of the entire SFT is fully considered.The dummy-connection-mass method and constraint boundary conditions are employed to connect the tunnel and mooring lines in a convenient manner.Wave-and earthquake-induced hydrodynamic forces are evaluated by the Morison equation at instantaneous node positions.Several wave and earthquake conditions are selected to evaluate its global performance and sensitivity at different system parameters.Different BuoyancyWeight Ratios(BWRs),submergence depths,and tunnel lengths(and mooring intervals)are chosen to establish a design strategy for reducing the maximum mooring tension.Both static and dynamic tensions are critical to find an acceptable design depending on the given target environmental condition.BWR plays a crucial role in preventing snap loading,and the corresponding static tension is a primary factor if the environmental condition is mild.The tunnel length can significantly be extended by reducing BWR when environmental force is not that substantial.Dynamic tension becomes important in harsh environmental conditions,for which high BWR and short mooring interval are required.It is underscored that the wet natural frequencies with mooring are located away from the spectral peaks of design waves or earthquakes.

Comparison of Potential Theory and Morison Equation for Deformable Horizontal Cylinders

This study investigates the hydro-elastic behaviors of fully submerged horizontal cylinders in different regular waves.Two methods were proposed and compared in this study.The first method was based on potential theory in frequency domain and the discrete-module-beam(DMB)method,which discretizes a floating elastic structure into a sufficient number of rigid bodies while simultaneously representing the elastic behavior from beam elements with Euler-Bernoulli beam and Saint-Venant torsion.Moreover,the Morison method in time domain was employed;this method estimates wave forces from the semi-empirical Morison equation,and the elastic behavior is embodied by massless axial,bending,and torsional springs.Various parametric studies on cylinder diameter,submergence depth,and wave direction were conducted.Wave forces,dry/wet mode shapes/natural frequencies,and dynamic motions are presented and analyzed.