Submerged floating tunnel cross-section analysis using a transition turbulence model

Journal Article (2021)
Author(s)

Pengxu Zou (CCCC-Fhdi Engineering Co., CCCC SFT Technical Joint Research Team, TU Delft - Civil Engineering & Geosciences)

Jeremy D. Bricker (University of Michigan, TU Delft - Civil Engineering & Geosciences)

Wim Uijttewaal (TU Delft - Civil Engineering & Geosciences)

Research Group
Hydraulic Structures and Flood Risk
DOI related publication
https://doi.org/10.1080/00221686.2021.1944921 Final published version
More Info
expand_more
Publication Year
2021
Language
English
Research Group
Hydraulic Structures and Flood Risk
Journal title
Journal of Hydraulic Research
Issue number
2
Volume number
60
Pages (from-to)
258-270
Downloads counter
279
Collections
Institutional Repository
Reuse Rights

Other than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download, forward or distribute the text or part of it, without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license such as Creative Commons.

Abstract

Concepts of a submerged floating tunnel (SFT) for novel sea-crossings have been researched in recent years. An SFT tube should be moored afloat by tensioned mooring systems to maintain the tube position under complex hydrodynamic loads. In-line force is amongst the dominant hydrodynamic parameters in the SFT cross-section design and the mooring system reliability evaluation. Selecting a suitable in-line force computation method is crucial to successful and accurate SFT cross-section optimization. The transition SST model is an effective turbulence transition prediction tool in the boundary layer computation subjected to tidal flow at both low and high Reynolds numbers. Two types of parametric Bézier curves applied in airfoil optimization are used to describe the SFT cross-section. We show that an SFT cross-section described by a leading-edge Bézier-PARSEC (BP) curve has better hydrodynamic performance than a trailing-edge BP curve of equal aspect ratio (AR). To avoid large flow separation, an AR not exceeding 0.47 is recommended. An SFT cross-section design should balance hydrodynamic performance and construction cost. The SFT cross-section with AR = 0.47 using the leading-edge BP curve with fixed clearance has a comparatively small in-line force and a minimum material cost.