Hydrodynamic response of a submerged tunnel element suspended from a twin-barge under random waves

Abstract It is possible that the excessive dynamic responses of tunnel elements could jeopardize the safety and accuracy of installation procedures used during subsea tunnel construction. To investigate the motion characteristics of the tunnel element, experimental measurements of a moored tunnel element suspended from a twin-barge were conducted in a wave flume at a geometric scale of 1:50. A corresponding numerical model was developed to simulate the dynamic response of the tunnel-barge system in realistic sea conditions, using hydrodynamic parameters from a radiation/diffraction potential model. Multiple linear wave conditions and three immersion depths were tested. The results indicate that the motion response of the tunnel element increases with decreasing immersion depth, and the natural periods of the tunnel, barge and combined tunnel-barge system play key roles in the influence of wave conditions on the motions of the tunnel. It was found that the low-frequency motion of the tunnel element is large in small wave periods. The mooring system under such conditions needs to be considered carefully during system design in order to safely control the motions of the tunnel-barge system in energetic ocean environments.

[1]  T. Sarpkaya,et al.  Mechanics of wave forces on offshore structures , 1981 .

[2]  J. S. Steenfelt,et al.  Stability of an immersed tunnel in offshore conditions under deep water wave impact , 2008 .

[3]  周瑜,et al.  Experimental Investigation on Element Immersing Process of Immersed Tube Tunnel , 2001 .

[4]  Jianmin Yang,et al.  Experimental study on mooring, towing and installing of immersed tunnel caissons , 2010 .

[5]  Ioannis Anastasopoulos,et al.  Nonlinear Response of Deep Immersed Tunnel to Strong Seismic Shaking , 2007 .

[6]  Akiyuki Ukai,et al.  Rapid Stabilization of the Immersed Tunnel Element , 2004 .

[7]  Yue Song,et al.  Experimental study on the mooring tension of tunnel element during immersion standby , 2016 .

[8]  Walter C Grantz.  Immersed tunnel settlements. Part 1: nature of settlements , 2001 .

[9]  Lars Johanning,et al.  Numerical model validation for mooring systems: Method and application for wave energy converters , 2015 .

[10]  Partha Chakrabarti,et al.  Dynamic Simulation of Immersion of Tunnel Elements for Busan – Geoje Fixed Link Project , 2008 .

[11]  Sheng Peng,et al.  Experimental Investigation on Element Immersing Process of Immersed Tube Tunnel of Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge , 2012 .

[12]  Young-Hoon Yoon,et al.  Busan-Geoje Link: Immersed tunnel opening new horizons , 2006 .

[13]  Wei Li,et al.  Model test of immersed tube tunnel foundation treated by sand-flow method , 2014 .

[14]  Lars Johanning,et al.  Novel Mooring Design Options for high-intensity typhoon conditions - An investigation for wave energy in China , 2015 .

[15]  Pierpaolo Oreste,et al.  Behaviour of segmental tunnel linings under seismic loads studied with the hyperstatic reaction method , 2015 .

[16]  Yong Hou,et al.  Frequency responses of immersing tunnel element under wave actions , 2009 .

[17]  Fu Qiong-ge,et al.  Development and Prospect of Immersed Tunnels , 2004 .