Dredge Suction Cutterhead Flow Analyses

摘要

Physical model tests were conducted at 1:12 scale to investigate means forincreasing seabed excavation by hydraulic suction dredges. The highest excavation rate was obtained from a cutter suction combination, which was enhanced by adoption of an internal cone and jet. Tests conducted to investigate basic excavation achievable using simple suction and jet flows indicated that the addition of a simple jet near the suction pipe increases the excavation efficiency by many times. PHOENICS, a commercial 3-D computational fluid dynamics software package, was modified to simulate seabed erosion and deposition due to the singular and combined actions of suction and jet flows. This computer model was used to simulate sediment fluidization and transport. A smoothing routine was added to the model to account for scour hole stabilization. The calibrated and refined computer model was determined to be accurate in predicting physical model tests.