Dynamic Behavior of Gravity Retaining Walls with Coral Sand Backfill Under Earthquakes: Shaking Table Tests

China Ocean Engineering - The retaining walls in coral sand sites are inevitably threatened by earthquakes. A series of shaking table tests were carried out to study the seismic stability of...     

Effects of perforated baffle on reducing sloshing in rectangular tank: Experimental and numerical study

A liquid sloshing experimental rig driven by a wave-maker is designed and built to study liquid sloshing problems in a rectangular liquid tank with perforated baffle. A series of experiments are conducted in this experimental rig to estimate the free surface fluctuation and pressure distribution by changing external excitation frequency of the shaking table. An in-house CFD code is also used in this study to simulate the liquid sloshing in three-dimensional （3D） rectangular tank with perforated baffle. Good agreements of free surface elevation and pressure between the numerical results and the experimental data are obtained and presented. Spectral analysis of the time history of free surface elevation is conducted by using the fast Fourier transformation.     

Deformation of breakwater armoured artificial units under cyclic loading

Rubble mound breakwaters usually consist of armour, filter and core layers. The units used in the armour layer are natural rock or concrete. Although natural rock is usually preferred, it is not always possible to apply it. There are some advantages to using concrete units: they have a high stability coefficient under wave attack, and they are easily produced at work sites. Tetrapod and cube blocks are widely used in breakwaters as armour units.Rubble mound breakwaters are subjected not only to wave activity but also other types of environmental loading, such as earthquakes. Although rubble-mound breakwaters are most likely the most common type of breakwaters, they have received little attention regarding their response to seismic activity. The objective of this study is to present the dynamic response of a breakwater armoured by tetrapods placed by two different placement methods and armoured by cubes during seismic loadings experimentally and numerically. A shaking tank was developed for the experimental study. The breakwater models sit on a rigid bed, and the model scale is 1/50. A one-dimensional shaking tank was used to understand simple responses of the rubble mound breakwaters under seismic loads. The tank allows only one degree of freedom. A raining crane system was developed to achieve the same packing density and porosity for the core material. The shape of the model breakwater before and after the tests was measured using a profiler and was recorded by computer. However, crest lowering and the level of damage on slopes were determined from profiler records. The dynamic responses of the model breakwaters were also investigated using an image processing technique. For numerical simulation, software using finite element method was used.The results obtained from the experiment and numerical model may help designers build breakwaters armoured by artificial units.     

Deformation of rubble-mound breakwaters under cyclic loads

Rubble-mound breakwaters usually consist of a core of small quarry-run rock protected by one or more intermediate layers or underlayers that separate the core from the cover layers, which are composed of large armor units. Failure of rubble-mound breakwaters may be due to effects such as removal or damage of the armor units, overtopping leading to scouring, toe erosion, loss of the core material, or foundation problems under waves. However, whether rubble mounds fail under seismic loads is unknown. High seismic activity can lead to large settlements and even to failure of the breakwaters. The design of coastal structures should take into account the most relevant factors in each case, including seismic loading. The objective of this study is to understanding the failure mechanisms of conventional breakwater structures under seismic loads on rigid foundations. Hence, an experimental study was carried out on conventional breakwater structures with and without toes, subjected to different dynamic loadings of variable frequencies and amplitudes, in a shaking tank. A shaking tank with a single degree of freedom was developed to study the simple responses of conventional rubble-mound breakwaters under cyclic loads. For each test, an automatic raining crane system was used to achieve the same relative density and porosity of the core material. The input motion induced horizontal accelerations of different magnitudes during the tests. The accelerations and the deformation phases of the model were measured by a data acquisition system and an image processing system. The experiments on the conventional rubble-mound type breakwater model were performed under rigid-bottom conditions. The model's scale was 1:50. Cyclic responses of breakwaters with toes and without toes were examined separately, and their behaviors were compared. The results were compared with a numerical study, and the material properties and failure modes were thus defined.     

Dynamic Responses of Block Type Quay Walls Under Cyclic Loading

The purpose of this research is to study the dynamic responses of gravity quay walls with block type consisting of“three blocks”experimentally.For this purpose,1g shaking table tests were conducted under different cyclic loadings for two different saturated granular backfill materials(Soil 1 and Soil 2).In this study,D_n50 of Soil 1 and Soil 2 are selected as 2.2 cm and 1.0 cm,respectively.During the experiments,accelerations,soil pressures and displacements were measured for each block.Test results pointed out that Soil 2 caused more damage on structures.The measurements for displacement and tilting of each block were discussed in view of“acceptable level of damage in performance-based design”given in PIANC(2001).The result of the study showed that the definitions of damaged levels given in PIANC(2001)were reliable for using in performance-based methods for seismic design of block type quay walls.     

Experimental Study on Hydrodynamic Characteristics of Vertical-Axis Floating Tidal Current Energy Power Generation Device

To study the characteristics of attenuation, hydrostatic towage and wave response of the vertical-axis floating tidal current energy power generation device (VAFTCEPGD), a prototype is designed and experiment is carried out in the towing tank. Free decay is conducted to obtain attenuation characteristics of the VAFTCEPGD, and characteristics of mooring forces and motion response, floating condition, especially the lateral displacement of the VAFTCEPGD are obtained from the towing in still water. Tension response of the #1 mooring line and vibration characteristics of the VAFTCEPGD in regular waves as well as in level 4 irregular wave sea state with the current velocity of 0.6 m/s. The results can be reference for theoretical study and engineering applications related to VAFTCEPGD.     

On the analysis of sloshing of water in rectangular containers: Numerical study and experimental validation

In this work the analysis of sloshing of water in rectangular open tanks has been extensively carried out. Two mathematical models are employed, respectively the Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes Equations (RANSE) and the Shallow Water Equations (SWE). The RANSE are solved using a modified form of the well established MAC method (SIMAC) able to treat both the free surface motion and the viscous stresses over the rigid walls accurately. The Shallow Water Equations are solved by means of a simple and powerful algorithm (CE-SE) able to deal with large impacting waves over the tank walls.Successively, in order to validate the mentioned algorithms and for a better understanding of the sloshing phenomenon, experimental tests have been carried out using a 0.5 m breadth rectangular tank in periodic roll motion.It has been shown that RANSE provide more accurate solutions than SWE for small or moderate amplitudes of excitation. In particular in this paper it is proved that the shallow water approximation can be efficiently adopted within liquid depth to tank breadth RATIO = 0.15, when examining the sloshing problem. By increasing the water level inside the tank, results by SWE show large qualitative and quantitative disagreement with experiments. Nevertheless, in the case of large amplitude excitation, when sprays and large breaking waves are expected, SWE provide a fairly good estimate of the sloshing induced waves.Finally a simple baffle configuration inside the tank has been considered. By the analysis of numerical results, it has been observed that the presence of a vertical baffle at the middle of the tank dramatically changes the sloshing response compared to the unbaffled configuration. It produces a jump-like effect, resulting in a weak magnification of the dynamic loads on the vertical walls out of resonance, and a strong reduction of the dynamic loads in the resonance condition.     

The influence of hull form on the motions of high speed vessels in head seas

Prediction of ship motions at high Froude number is carried out using a time domain strip theory in which the unsteady hydrodynamic problem is treated in terms of the motion of fixed strips of the water as hull sections pass through it. The Green function solution is described and the integration of the ship motion carried out by an averaging method to ensure stability of the solution. The method is validated by comparison with tank data for conventional slender hulls suitable for catamarans, small water area twin hull (SWATH) forms and hulls suitable for high-speed monohulls. Motion computations are then carried out for 14 designs with an operating speed of 40 kts and a displacement of 1000 tonnes. The vessels are assumed not to be fitted with motion control systems for the purposes of this comparative study. Motion sickness incidence is predicted to rise to between 42 and 72% depending upon the hull design in 3 m head seas of average period 7.5 s. MSI values reduce in smaller seas with a shorter average period to be less than 15% in all cases in 1m seas with an average period of 5.5 s.     

Study on Model Tests and Hydrodynamic Force Models for Free Spanning Submarine Pipelines Subjected to Earthquakes

A test rig is built to model the dynamic response of submarine pipelines with an underwater shaking table in the State Key Laboratory of Coastal and Offshore Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, China. Model tests are carried out to consider the effects of exciting wave directions and types. Based on the experimental results, two hydrodynamic force models derived from Morison equation and Wake model are presented respectively. By use of hydrodynamic force models suitable for free spanning submarine pipelines under earthquakes, discretized equations of motion are obtained and finite element models are established to analyze dynamic response of free spanning submarine pipeline subjected to multi-support seismic excitations. The comparison of numerical results with experimental results shows that the improved Morison and Wake hydrodynamic force models could satisfactorily predict dynamic response on the free spanning submarine pipelines subjected to earthquakes.     

Earthquake response of sea-based storage tanks

An effective method for the linear analysis of dynamic response of submerged underwater oil storage tanks resting on a horizontal seabed to horizontal earthquake excitations is presented. The tank is axisymmetric in shape, has a flexible wall/roof, and is filled with oil and water. A general hybrid-finite element solution procedure has been formulated, wherein the tank structure, the interior fluids, as well as the near-field of the exterior water region are discretized into a toroidal finite-element network. The tank displacement is calculated as a superposition of the first few modes of the structure's free vibration. Contribution from the hydrodynamic interaction to the coupled motion is obtained by solving the Laplace equation with the appropriate boundary conditions, which includes a matching to the exterior far-field pressure (analytic) representation to simplify the computation process. The effects of fluids surrounding and inside the tank are studied. It is demonstrated that these effects have, in general, a significant impact on the tank earthquake response analysis.A comprehensive and predictive computer program for use in such tank response analysis has been developed for engineering applications.     

基于CFD-FEM的浮式结构水弹性响应数值模拟

开发并验证了一种基于CFD-FEM耦合的弹性浮体水弹性响应计算模拟方法。采用CFD方法建立黏性数值水池模拟非线性波浪,弹性浮板进行有限元离散,并在交界面进行数据交互实现耦合计算;通过与水池试验数据和三维板理论在各种波浪环境下的浮体垂向位移结果对比,证实CFD-FEM耦合方法的有效性。并进一步研究了浮板的厚度、入射波波幅和浮板的三维效应对浮板水弹性响应的影响。结论表明,波幅的增加会加剧弹性浮板的水弹性响应,浮板各点处的垂向位移随波幅的增加而增大;当浮板厚度改变时,不同厚度浮板自由端处的垂向位移差异较小,而在中部等位置处,厚度对浮板的水弹性响应有较大的影响。     

Evaluation of Hydrodynmic Coefficients of Ships Oscillating in A Numerical Wave Tank

A technique for the evaluation of the hydrodynamic coefficients of ships is outlined for ship oscillating in a numerical wave tank,which is established on Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) theories.The numerical simulation of ship sections and bodies forced oscillating in the tank are carried out.The added mass and damping coefficients are obtained by the decomposition of the computational results,which agree well with the corresponding ones of potential theories.     

Evaluation of Hydrodynamic Coefficients of Ships Oscillating in A Numerical Wave Tank

A technique for the evaluation of the hydrodynamic coefficients of ships is outlined for ship oscillating in a numerical wave tank, which is established on Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) theories. The numerical simulation of ship sections and bodies forced oscillating in the tank are carried out. The added mass and damping coefficients are obtained by the decomposition of the computational results, which agree well with the corresponding ones of potential theories.     

Numerical wave tank computations of nonlinear motions of two-dimensional arbitrarily shaped free floating bodies

Time domain simulations of nonlinear motions of two-dimensional floating bodies in waves are presented. The so called `body exact' approach is adopted in a numerical wave tank. A new scheme for pressure evaluation on the wetted hull is developed and systematically used with good results in terms of accuracy and stability. Strongly flared geometries are successfully handled even at very large amplitude motions. The validation of the code is carried out according to the 20th ITTC Seakeeping Committee recommendations through internal checks of consistency and through comparisons with available experimental data.     

The air–water sloshing problem: Fundamental analysis and parametric studies on excitation and fill levels

The problem of liquid sloshing has gained recent attention with the proliferation of liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers transporting liquids in partially filled tanks. Impact pressures caused by sloshing depend on the tank fill level, period and amplitude of oscillation of the tank. In this paper, we first present the rudiments of a linear potential theory for sloshing motions in a two-dimensional rectangular tank, due to small amplitude sway motions. Although this topic is fundamental, we clarify inconsistencies in the published literature and texts.Numerical investigations were carried out on the sloshing motions in a two-dimensional tank in the sway excitation. The fluid domain was modeled using a finite volume approximation, and the air–water interface was tracked using a volume-of-fluid (VOF) technique. Computational results for free surface elevation and impact pressure are found to be in good agreement with theory and published data. The fill levels were varied from 10% to 95%, and the excitation time periods were varied from 0.8 to 2.8 s for a constant sway amplitude of 0.25 m (peak–peak) at 1:30 scale. The results of the parametric study are compared with theoretical predictions and suggestions are made on incorporating sloshing effects in standard seakeeping analysis for LNG carriers.     

循环荷载下粉土液化流动特性拖球试验研究

基于流体力学中的Stokes黏滞阻力理论,以振动台试验为基础,开发了一套测量液化过程中粉土流变特性的拖球试验装置。在铺有粉土海床的模型箱内埋设光滑小球,通过测量小球水平运动过程中所受阻力值的大小,计算粉土液化的表观动力黏度,分析粉土液化过程中的表观动力黏度与超孔压比之间的关系,以及液化后表观黏度与应变率的变化规律。试验结果表明,振动台试验下,孔隙压力表现为迅速上升,粉土迅速达到液化状态;振动过程对海床固结影响较大;粉土海床在未达到完全液化状态时（ru<1）,表观黏度随超孔压比增大而减小,在液化状态下（ru=1）,剪应力随应变率增大而减小,粉土呈现出剪切稀化的特点,为典型的非牛顿流体特征。     

Experimental Study and Fatigue Analysis of Vortex-Induced Vibration of Umbilical Cable Considering Internal Friction

In order to investigate the effect of internal friction of umbilical cable on its vortex-induced vibration(VIV)responses, the experimental study on VIV of bond umbilical cable(BUC) and un-bond umbilical cable(UBUC) was carried out in an experimental tank. A current generator in the laboratory simulated the uniform current, and the current velocities were observed in real time by using a Doppler Velocimeter. In addition, different sizes of top tension were applied to the umbilical cable model. The VIV responses of the umbilical cable model were measured by using Fiber Bragg grating(FBG) strain sensors. The displacement responses of umbilical cable model were reconstructed based on the experimental strain data processed by modal superposition method. In this paper, the traveling wave characteristics, the spatial-temporal distribution characteristics of frequency and fatigue damage of the BUC and UBUC under VIV are studied. The experimental results show that there are obvious differences between BUC and UBUC in the response characteristics of VIV. The UBUC appears the traveling wave sooner than BUC, but its standing wave characteristics are more obvious than those of BUC at high velocities. Compared with BUC, the spatial-temporal distribution of UBUC frequencies appears wide-band distribution sooner, but has narrower bandwidth in the "lock-in" state. The level of fatigue damage of BUC was approximately the same as that of UBUC.     

Dynamic loads on submerged bodies in a viscous numerical wave tank at small KC numbers

In this paper, an improved version of the MAC method (SIMAC), recently developed at the University of Trieste, is employed for the study of the wave generation and propagation into a numerical wave tank and for the evaluation of dynamic loads over submerged fixed bodies.In the first part of the work, a numerical wave tank was developed. A pneumatic wave-maker at the left-hand side of the tank was implemented by the use of a pressure perturbation at the free surface. The pressure varies in time with a sinusoidal law. Grid sensitivity tests, checks on mass conservation and the Fourier analysis of the waves which propagate in the tank showed the effectiveness of SIMAC in treating such problems. The wave-maker was then calibrated.In the second part of the work, the dynamic loads over submerged square and rectangular cylinders were evaluated. The time records of the horizontal and vertical forces which act over the body were then treated using the Morison equation in order to derive the inertial and damping coefficients. The analysis was carried out for KC numbers ranging between 0.447 and 3.58. Numerical results satisfactorily tallied with experimental data. The analysis of the velocity field near the body evidenced the influence of vortex generation and vortex shedding on the coefficients of inertial forces.     

Experimental Study on A Sloshing Mitigation Concept Using Floating Layers of Solid Foam Elements

A sloshing mitigation concept taking advantage of floating layers of solid foam elements is proposed in the present study. Physical experiments are carried out in a liquid tank to investigate the hydrodynamic mechanism of this concept. Effects of the foam-layer thickness, excitation amplitude, and excitation frequency on the sloshing properties are analyzed in detail. It is found that the floating layers of solid foam elements do not evidently affect the fundamental natural sloshing frequency of the liquid tank evidently among the considered cases. At the resonant condition, the maximum wave height and dynamic pressure are greatly reduced as the foam-layer thickness increases. Higher-order pressure components on the tank side gradually vanish with the increase of the foam-layer thickness. Cases with different excitation amplitudes are also analyzed. The phenomenon is observed when the wave breaking in the tank can be suppressed by solid foam elements.     

水下平板与波浪相互作用完全非线性数值模拟(英文)

利用完全非线性数值波浪水槽技术研究水下平板与波浪的相互作用。假定水下平板厚度极薄、刚性,位于有限水深并且非常接近自由水面。应用四阶龙格库塔方法追踪每一时刻的波面形状,采用阻尼层来吸收反射波以保证算法的稳定性,同时引入平滑和重组的方法抑制自由表面控制点的较高梯度。通过对波浪与浮动圆柱相互作用的数值模拟证实了数值波浪水槽方法的有效性,计算结果与线性理论吻合良好。在波浪数值水槽方法中引入造波板模拟波浪产生并与水下平板发生相互作用,应用傅立叶解析方法对波面变形、波浪力作了分析。结果表明在板非常接近自由水面的情况下会表现出现很强的非线性,揭示了线性理论的局限性。