Numerical Simulation of Dynamic Response of Submerged Floating Tunnel under Regular Wave Conditions

A submerged floating tunnel (SFT) is considered an innovative alternative to conventional bridges and underground or immersed tunnels for passing through deep water. Assessment of hydrodynamic performance of SFT under regular wave loading is one of the important factors in the design of SFT structure. In this paper, a theoretical hydrodynamic model is developed to describe the coupled dynamic response of an SFT and mooring lines under regular waves. In this model, wave-induced hydrodynamic loads are estimated by the Morison equation for a moving object, and the simplified governing differential equation of the tunnel with mooring cables is solved using the fourth-order Runge–Kutta and Adams numerical method. The numerical results are successfully validated by direct comparison against published experimental data. On this basis, the effects of the parameters such as the cable length, buoyancy-weight ratio, wave period, wave steepness, and water/submergence depth on the dynamic response of the SFT under wave loading are studied. The results show that tunnel motions and cable tensions grow with wave height and period and decrease with submergence depth. The resonance of the tunnel will be triggered when the wave period is close to its natural vibration period, and the estimation formula of wave period corresponding to tunnel resonance is proposed in this paper.

Mode coupling internal resonance characteristics of submerged floating tunnel tether

This study presents the mode coupling internal resonance characteristics of submerged floating tunnel tether. In which, in-plane and out-of-plane coupling of tether is taken into account. And the coupled vibration equations of tether for the in-plane first mode and out-of-plane first mode are obtained. The one-to-one mode coupling internal resonance characteristics of submerged floating tunnel tether are studied by numerical analysis method. It is shown that, when the conditions of modal coupling internal resonance are met, with the increase of the external excitation amplitude of the tether, the mid-span displacement of the tether increases gradually. When the amplitude of external excitation is less than a certain value, the internal resonance of tether will not occur. With the increase of damping ratio, the mid-span displacement of the tether decreases gradually. When the damping ratio increases to a certain value, the internal resonance will not occur. The study is helpful to restrain the vibration of submerged floating tunnel tether.