• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2013.04a
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• pp.83-88
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• 2013

The purpose of this study is to develop the algorithm for dynamic interaction analysis of submerged floating tunnel and vehicles. The dynamic behavior characteristic of submerged floating tunnel is certainly different with general structures, because the submerged floating tunnel is floating in the middle of water, and subjected to constant buoyance. Therefore the analyses in various aspects should be carried out to secure structural stability and practicality of structures. To conduct the dynamic interaction analysis, the structure is modeled by commercial FEM program ABAQUS to investigate modal characteristic. Also the added mass concept is applied to represent the inertial force by a fluid, and then dynamic interaction analyses are conducted with superposition method when the KTX is moving along the submerged floating tunnel. And the time histories are presented for vertical and lateral displacement at the center of the tunnel.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.133-142
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• 2020

Submerged floating tunnel (SFT) is a type of tunnel which causes the tunnel segments to float in the water. When the SFTs are connected to the ground, the connection between the SFT and the subsea bored tunnel is fragile due to the difference in behavioral characteristics between the two types of tunnels. Therefore, special design and construction methods are needed to ensure the stability of the area around the connection. However, since previous research on the stability of the connection site has not been undertaken enough, the basic step necessitates the evaluation of ground behavior at the shore connection. In this study, the numerical analysis targeting the shore connection between the subsea bored tunnel and the SFT was simulated. The strain concentration at the shore connection was analyzed by numerical simulation and the effects of several factors were examined. The results showed the instability in the ground close to the shore connection due to the imbalance in the behavior of the two types of tunnels; the location of the strain concentration varies with different environmental and structural conditions. It is expected that the results from this study can be utilized in future studies to determine weak points in the shore connection between the submerged floating tunnel and the subsea bored tunnel, and devise methods to mitigate the risks.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.101-112
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• 2023

When a submerged floating tunnel is connected to the ground, there is a risk of stress concentration at the shore connection owing to the displacement imbalance caused by low confinement pressures in water and high confinement pressures in the ground. Here, the effects of the boundary condition and stiffness of the joints installed at the shore connection on the behaviors of a submerged floating tunnel and its shore connection were analyzed using a numerical method. The analysis results obtained with fixed and ground boundaries were similar due to the high stiffness of the ground boundary. However, the stability of the shore connection was found to be improved with the ground boundary as a small displacement was allowed at the boundary. The effect of the joint stiffness was evaluated by investigating the dynamic behavior of the submerged floating tunnel, the magnitude of the load acting on the bored tunnel, and the stress distribution at the shore connection. A lower joint stiffness was found to correspond to more effective relief of the stress concentration at the shore connection. However, it was confirmed that joints with low stiffness also increase the submerged floating tunnel displacement and decrease the frequency of the dynamic behavior, causing a risk of increased resonance when wave loads with low frequency are applied. Therefore, it is necessary to derive the optimal joint stiffness that can achieve both stress concentration relief and resonance prevention during the design of shore connections to secure their dynamic stability.

• International journal of steel structures
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.1191-1199
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• 2018

Concepts of submerged floating tunnels (SFTs) for land connection have been continuously suggested and developed by several researchers and institutes. To maintain their predefined positions under various dynamic environmental loading conditions, the submerged floating tunnels should be effectively moored by reasonable mooring systems. With rational mooring systems, the design of SFTs should be confirmed to satisfy the structural safety, fatigue, and operability design criteria related to tunnel motion, internal forces, structural stresses, and the fatigue life of the main structural members. This paper presents a feasibility study of a submerged floating tunnel moored by an inclined tendon system. The basic structural concept was developed based on the concept of conventional cable-stayed bridges to minimize the seabed excavation, penetration, and anchoring work by applying tower-inclined tendon systems instead of conventional tendons with individual seabed anchors. To evaluate the structural performance of the new type of SFT, a hydrodynamic analysis was performed in the time domain using the commercial nonlinear finite element code ABAQUS-AQUA. For the main dynamic environmental loading condition, an irregular wave load was examined. A JONSWAP wave spectrum was used to generate a time-series wave-induced hydrodynamic load considering the specific significant wave height and peak period for predetermined wave conditions. By performing a time-domain hydrodynamic analysis on the submerged floating structure under irregular waves, the motional characteristics, structural stresses, and fatigue damage of the floating tunnel and mooring members were analyzed to evaluate the structural safety and fatigue performance. According to the analytical study, the suggested conceptual model for SFTs shows very good hydrodynamic structural performance. It can be concluded that the concept can be considered as a reasonable structural type of SFT.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.77-89
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• 2020

Submerged floating tunnel (SFT) is a type of tunnel that allows tunnel segments to float underwater by buoyancy, and is being actively studied in recent years. When the submerged floating tunnel is connected to the ground, the tunnel and the bored tunnel inside the ground must be connected. There is risk that the stress will be concentrated at the connection between the two tunnels due to the different constraints and behavior of the two tunnels. Therefore, special design and construction methods should be applied to ensure the stability around the connection. However, previous studies on the stability at the connection site have not been sufficiently carried out, so study on the basic stage of the stability at connection site are necessary. In this study, numerical analysis simulating the connection between submerged floating tunnel and the bored tunnel confirmed that the shear strain concentration occurred in the ground around the connection, and it was analyzed that the structural factors can be handled during construction to have effects on the stability of the ground around the connection. Numerical results show that the risks from disproportionate displacements in the two tunnels can be mitigated through the construction of grouting material and joint design. Although the results from this study are qualitative results, it is expected that it will contribute to the determination of structural factors and risk areas that should be considered in the design of connections between the submerged floating tunnel and bored tunnel in the future studies.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.405-417
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• 2023

The submerged floating tunnel (SFT) is tethered by mooring lines anchored to the seabed, therefore, the structural integrity of the anchor should be sensitively managed. Despite their importance, reaction forces cannot be simply measured by attaching sensors or load cells because of the structural and environmental characteristics of the submerged structure. Therefore, we propose an effective method for estimating the reaction forces at the seabed anchor of a submerged floating tunnel using a structural pattern model. First, a structural pattern model is established to use the correlation between tunnel motion and anchor reactions via a deep learning algorithm. Once the pattern model is established, it is directly used to estimate the reaction forces by inputting the tunnel motion data, which can be directly measured inside the tunnel. Because the sequential characteristics of responses in the time domain should be considered, the long short-term memory (LSTM) algorithm is mainly used to recognize structural behavioral patterns. Using hydrodynamics-based simulations, big data on the structural behavior of the SFT under various waves were generated, and the prepared datasets were used to validate the proposed method. The simulation-based validation results clearly show that the proposed method can precisely estimate time-series reactions using only acceleration data. In addition to real-time structural health monitoring, the proposed method can be useful for forensics when an unexpected accident or failure is related to the seabed anchors of the SFT.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.64 no.3
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• pp.293-299
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• 2017

Submarine collisions is one of the major hazardous factor for Submerged Floating Railway Tunnel (SFRT) and this study presents the safety evaluation for submarine collision to SFRT by using theoretical approach. Simplified method to evaluate the collision safety of SFRT was proposed based on the beam on elastic foundation theory. Firstly, the time history load function for submarine collision was obtained by using one-degree-of-freedom vibration model. Then, the equivalent mass and stiffness of the structure were calculated, and the collision responses of SFRT were evaluated. Finite element analysis was conducted to verify the proposed equations, and it can be found that the collision responses, such as deflection, and acceleration, agreed well with the proposed equations. Finally, derailment condition for high speed train in SFRT due to submarine collision was proposed.

• Ocean Systems Engineering
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.109-123
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• 2015

In the present study, the coupled dynamic response of a Submerged Floating Tunnel (SFT) and mooring lines under regular waves is solved by using two independent numerical simulation methods, OrcaFlex and CHARM3D, in time domain. Variations of Buoyancy to Weight Ratio (BWR), wave steepness/period, and water/submergence depth are considered as design and environmental parameters in the study. Two different mooring-line configurations, vertical and inclined, are studied to find an optimum design in terms of limiting tunnel motions and minimizing mooring-line tension. The numerical results are successfully validated by direct comparison against published experimental data. The results show that tunnel motions and tether tensions grow with wave height and period and decrease with submergence depth. The inclined mooring system is more effective in restricting tunnel motions compared to the vertical mooring system. Overall, the present study demonstrates the feasibility of this type of structure as an alternative to traditional bridges or under-seabed tunnels.

• Ocean Systems Engineering
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.219-240
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• 2019

This paper presents the comparison between SFT response with linear and nonlinear cables. The dynamic response analysis of submerged floating tunnel (SFT) is presented computationally with linear and nonlinear tension legs cables. The analysis is performed computationally for two wave directions one at 90 degrees (perpendicular) to tunnel and other at 45 degrees to the tunnel. The tension legs or cables are assumed as linear and non- linear and the analysis is also performed by assuming one tension leg or cable is failed. The Response Amplitude Operators (RAO's) are computed for first order waves, second order waves for both failure and non-failure case of cables. For first order waves- the SFT response is higher for sway and heave degree of freedom with nonlinear cables as compared with linear cables. For second order waves the SFT response in sway degree of freedom is bit higher response with linear cables as compared with nonlinear cables and the SFT in heave degree of freedom has higher response at low time periods with nonlinear cables as compared with linear cables. For irregular waves the power spectral densities (PSD's) has been computed for sway and heave degrees of freedom, at $45^0$ wave direction PSD's are higher with linear cables as compared with nonlinear cables and at $90^0$ wave direction the PSD's are higher with non-linear cables. The mooring force responses are also computed in y and z directions for linear and nonlinear cables.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.27-41
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• 2023

Submerged floating tunnels must be connected to the ground to connect continents. The displacement imbalance at the shore connection between the underground bored tunnel and submerged floating tunnel can cause stress concentration, accompanying a fracture at the shore connection. The elastic joint has been proposed as a method to relive the stress concentration, however, the effect of the elastic joints on the dynamic behavior should be evaluated. In this study, the submerged floating tunnel and shore connection under dynamic load conditions were simulated through numerical analysis using a numerical model verified through a small-scaled physical model test. The resonant frequency was considered as a dynamic behavioral characteristic of the tunnel under the impact load, and it was confirmed that the stiffness of the elastic joint and the resonant frequency exhibit a power function relationship. When the shore connection is designed with a soft joint, the resonant frequency of the tunnel is reduced, which not only increases the risk of resonance in the marine environment where a dynamic load of low frequency is applied, but also greatly increases the maximum velocity of tunnel when resonance occurs.