Session: 15-09-01 Marine Environment and Offshore Structure Design under Climate Changes

Submission Number: 181891

Numerical Investigation of Submarine-Brash Ice Interaction Based on CFD-DEM Coupling Method 

In coastal and shallow water areas, there exists a complex coupling relationship among wind fields, waves, currents, and seabed topography. This multi-field coupling phenomenon has significant im-plications for marine engineering design, coastal protection, and marine environmental assessment. The intricate interactions between these physical fields create dynamic conditions that substantially affect the safety and efficiency of marine operations, the stability of coastal structures, and the eco-logical balance of nearshore environments. Conducting numerical simulation studies on this coupling system holds substantial engineering and academic value, as it enables researchers and engineers to predict environmental conditions, optimize structural designs, and mitigate potential hazards in coastal regions. However, most existing analytical models struggle to directly account for seabed effects and accurately simulate wind-wave-current coupling under real conditions. Traditional approaches often simplify or neglect the influence of complex bathymetry, leading to significant deviations between predicted and observed phenomena. This paper employs numerical simulation methods to construct a multi-field coupling model that comprehensively considers wind fields, wave fields, current fields, and seabed topography. To sys-tematically investigate the impact of different seabed topographies on multi-field coupling, four typical seabed conditions are established: seabed plain, seabed slope, sea trench, and flat topography. These topographical features represent the most common seabed formations in actual marine environments and provide a framework for understanding topographic effects across diverse coastal settings. Initially, the reliability and accuracy of the proposed numerical coupling model are validated through compar-ison with pool experimental results. The model validation demonstrates that the coupling model ef-fectively reproduces physically observed phenomena, capturing both the qualitative features and quantitative characteristics of wind-wave-current interactions.Subsequently, based on this coupling model, comparative analyses are conducted on the evolution patterns of wave fields, current fields, and wind fields under different seabed topographic conditions. This study focuses on examining how seabed topographic variations influence wave propagation characteristics, flow field structures, and near-surface wind fields, as well as the interaction mecha-nisms among these influences. Through extensive numerical simulation experiments, the primary mechanisms of wind-wave-current-seabed coupling are summarized, including: the effects of seabed topography on wave refraction and diffraction, topographically induced secondary circulation phe-nomena, and alterations to near-bottom boundary layer structures due to wave-current interactions. Research results indicate that the proposed coupled numerical simulation method achieves high computational accuracy and can effectively simulate and analyze wind-wave-current-seabed coupling problems. The model can effectively simulate and analyze wind-wave-current-seabed coupling prob-lems with practical engineering significance. This validated model provides an effective and reliable numerical analysis tool for coastal engineering design, marine environmental impact assessment, and integrated coastal zone management strategies.

Presenting Author: Yongzhi Guo Shanghai Jiao Tong University

Presenting Author Biography: Mr. Yongzhi Guo is PhD student supervised by Prof. Decheng Wan of Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

Authors:

Yongzhi Guo Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Liushuai Cao Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Decheng Wan Shanghai Jiao Tong University