Dynamic response analysis of submerged floating tunnels by wave and seismic excitations

Abstract

This paper presents the numerical simulation results for the dynamic responses of two types of submerged floating tunnels (SFT) under wave and/or seismic excitations. Time domain simulations are conducted by the commercial program OrcaFlex (OF) and in-house CHARM3D program (CP). The dynamic performances of a short/rigid/free-end SFT section with vertical and inclined mooring lines are evaluated. The SFT numerical models were validated against Oh et al.´s (2013) model test results under regular wave conditions. Then the numerical models were further applied to the cases of irregular waves or seismic motions. The main results presented are SFT surge/heave motions and mooring tensions. The general trends and magnitudes obtained by the two different software packages reasonably agree to each other along with experimental results. When seabed seismic motions are applied to the SFT system, the dynamic responses of SFTs are small but dynamic mooring tension can significantly be amplified. In particular, horizontal earthquakes greatly increase the dynamic tension of the inclined mooring system, while vertical earthquakes cause similar effect on vertical mooring system.