Dynamic response of subsea tunnel in liquefiable layered seabed under combined earthquake and wave action

Abstract

Liquefaction poses a potential threat to the safety of subsea tunnel during the earthquake. In the ocean environment, wave pressure is considered as a normal loading applied at the seabed surface. This study proposed a fully coupled dynamic effective stress finite element model for subsea tunnel in liquefiable layered seabed under combined earthquake and wave action. Biot u-p formulation integrated with a modified generalized plasticity model was adopted for liquefaction analyses of the seabed. The proposed model was validated through a wave flume model test in terms of excess pore water pressure (EPWP). The results showed that the tunnel – soil dynamic interaction significantly increased EPWP near the tunnel. Increasing the wave height significantly increased the liquefaction depth of the seabed; however, the wave loading can either suppress the displacement of the tunnel during the earthquake or increase the uplift of the tunnel during the subsequent wave loading. When investigating seismic response of subsea tunnels in liquefiable soils under combined earthquake and wave action, the ground motion was suggested to be input simultaneously with the wave pressure. This study also highlights the effect of the thickness of liquefiable layer and frequency content of earthquakes on dynamic responses of subsea tunnels.