Global Responses of Exposed and Suspended Submarine Cables Due to Anchor Dragging

作者：Xiaowei Huang, Daoyu Jiang, Zhenjin Cen, Haolin Li, Zhenkui Wang, Zhen Guo · 发表于：Journal of Marine Science and Engineering · 年份：2024 · DOI：10.3390/jmse12091628 · 被引用次数：7 · 研究领域：Mechanical stress and fatigue analysis、Geotechnical Engineering and Underground Structures、Vibration and Dynamic Analysis

Anchor damage is one of the main risk factors for the safe operation of submarine cables. Additionally, due to a scour effect induced by seabed currents, submarine cables are prone to exposure or even suspension, increasing the risk of being dragged by anchors. Therefore, it is necessary to study the global response of exposed and suspended submarine cables subjected to anchor dragging. In this study, the tensile and bending stiffnesses of submarine cables are calculated by theoretical methods, and the accuracy of these calculations is verified by establishing a detailed finite element model. Then, the mechanical properties of the submarine cables are equivalently modeled using beam elements, and a large-scale finite element model for exposed and suspended cables under anchor dragging is established. Considering different dragging forces, exposed lengths, spanning lengths, and spanning heights, the overall deformation and mechanical responses of exposed and suspended cables are analyzed separately. The results show that under dragging forces, axial forces are uniformly distributed along exposed and suspended segments, while bending moments concentrate at the central hooking area and the ends of exposed and suspended segments. The influence of dragging force, exposed length, spanning length, and spanning height on the stress and deformation of submarine cables is significant. The results can be used for submarine cable damage assessments caused by anchor dragging.