Time-Domain Hydro-Elastic Analysis of a SFT (Submerged Floating Tunnel) with Mooring Lines under Extreme Wave and Seismic Excitations

Abstract

Global dynamic analysis of a 700-m-long SFT section considered in the South Sea of Korea is carried out for survival random wave and seismic excitations. To solve the tunnel-mooring coupled hydro-elastic responses, in-house time-domain-simulation computer program is developed. The hydro-elastic equation of motion for the tunnel and mooring is based on rod-theory-based finite element formulation with Galerkin method with fully coupled full matrix. The dummy-connection-mass method is devised to conveniently connect objects and mooring lines with linear and rotational springs. Hydrodynamic forces on a submerged floating tunnel (SFT) are evaluated by the modified Morison equation for a moving object so that the hydrodynamic forces by wave or seismic excitations can be computed at its instantaneous positions at every time step. In the case of seabed earthquake, both the dynamic effect transferred through mooring lines and the seawater-fluctuation-induced seaquake effect are considered. For validation purposes, the hydro-elastic analysis results by the developed numerical simulation code is compared with those by a commercial program, OrcaFlex, which shows excellent agreement between them. For the given design condition, extreme storm waves cause higher hydro-elastic responses and mooring tensions than those of the severe seismic case.