Abstract:
Submerged floating tunnels (SFTs) are novel structures for transportation across long- and deep-strait
regions. Owing to severe wave and current excitation as well as the effects of underwater structures and corrosion, the
risk of local anchor cable failure is high, which can result in the progressive failure of the entire structure. In this study,
experimental and numerical investigations are conducted to analyze the dynamic behavior of an SFT with different
mooring styles under local cable failure. A custom-designed cable failure device and the birth-and-death element method
are used to simulate cable failure (i.e., progressive failure) via experiments and numerical simulation, respectively. A
physical-scale segmental model of an SFT with different mooring styles under anchor cable failure is developed in this
study. A segmental and entire-length mathematical model is developed using the ANSYS program to perform the
numerical simulation. The results of the segmental numerical and experimental models indicate good agreement. The
dynamic response of an SFT with different mooring styles under cable failure is comprehensively investigated by
investigating the effects of key parameters (wave period, buoyant weight ratio, and cable failure mechanism). Moreover,
the progressive failure of the SFT under cable failure is investigated via a segment model test and a numerical simulation
of its entire length. The present study can serve as a reference for the safer designs of the SFT mooring style.
