Submarine mass movements and their interaction with critical offshore infrastructure

目前国内风电装机容量的扩大是实现英国能源安全目标的关键。它也对减少我们对化石燃料的依赖以及到2050年实现净零排放做出了重要贡献。风力发电依赖于海上基础设施、管道和电缆等基础设施，所有这些都暴露在地面不稳定的危险中。特别是，海底山体滑坡有可能切断电缆，扰乱服务，导致运营中断和昂贵的维修费用。为了确保工程师提供有效和高效的电力传输系统，需要开发滑坡-基础设施相互作用的预测模型。现有的评估海底滑坡对基础设施影响的岩土工程方法依赖于放置在土工离心机中的比例实验室模型的应用。然而，相关离心机比例定律中的不确定性使得测试数据在更广泛的工程实践中的应用存在问题。该项目旨在通过将数值模型的开发与代尔夫特理工学院(荷兰)世界领先设施的实验工作相结合来解决这一知识差距。在实验中，将直接测量速度、孔压和结构变形。测量结果将与不同尺度的模拟结果进行比较，从而隔离缩尺效应。该项目旨在扩大土工离心机的使用范围，以涵盖淹没在水下的山体滑坡和柔性电缆之间的相互作用问题。据设想，这种扩展将促进下一代危险评估战略。工程师将能够更好地判断他们的设计是否具有弹性，并设计出更合适和更有效的缓解系统。

The expansion of the current domestic wind power capacity is key to hit the energy security targets of the UK. It is also a significant contributor to the reduction of our dependency on fossil fuels, and to the achievement of net zero emissions by 2050. Wind power relies on infrastructure such as offshore foundations, pipelines, and power cables, all of which are exposed to hazard from ground instabilities. In particular, submarine landslides have the potential of disrupting services by cutting power cables, leading to operational disruptions and costly repairs. In order to ensure that engineers provide effective and efficient power transmission systems, predictive models of landslide-infrastructure interaction need to be developed.Available geotechnical approaches for estimating the impact of a submarine landslide on infrastructure rely on the application of scaled laboratory models, placed within a geotechnical centrifuge. However, uncertainties in the relevant centrifuge scaling laws make applications of test data to wider engineering practice problematic. This project aims to address this knowledge gap by combining the development of a numerical model with experimental work at a world-leading facility at Delft Institute of Technology (the Netherlands). Direct measurements of velocity, pore water pressure, and structure deformation will be performed the in experiments. The measurements will be compared with the results of simulations at different scales, thus allowing the isolation of scaling effects.This project aims to expand the use of the geotechnical centrifuge to encompass problems of interaction between submerged landslides and flexible power cables. Such an expansion, it is envisaged, will foster the next generation of hazard assessment strategies. Engineers will be able to make a better judgement on whether their designs are resilient, and to design more appropriate and effective mitigation systems.