Experimental Study on 2D Motion Characteristics of Submerged Floating Tunnel in Waves

Submerged floating tunnel (SFT) is a new type of transportation infrastructure for crossing sea straits in relatively deeper water. Compared with the fixed tunnel, the main challenge in designing a SFT is the stability maintaining in a complex hydrodynamic environment, especially for the wave-induced dynamic load. In this study, a series of systematic experiments were conducted to investigate the 2D motion characteristics (i.e., heave, sway and roll) of the SFT exposed to regular waves. The movement of the SFT model is measured by the image processing method which is a noncontact measurement. The experimental observation of SFT motion during the process of wave and SFT interaction is described in detail, and the influence of several governing parameters is thoroughly analyzed, including the wave height and period, submergence depth, buoyancy to weight ratio (BWR), and the mooring line angle. The results show that the motion amplitudes of SFT increase with the wave height increasing. The effect of wave period is related to the natural period of the structure. The sway, heave and roll of the SFT submerged beneath the water surface are much smaller than that of the SFT on the water surface. With the increase of BWR, the motion of SFT decreases. The motion amplitude increases with mooring line angle increasing. Finally, empirical equations are proposed to estimate the motion characteristics of the SFT.