A study on dynamic response of cable-seabed interaction

A numerical method is developed to investigate the dynamic response of cable-seabed interaction in this paper. The motion of cable is described by the Lumped Parameter Method, while the seabed, unlike the prevailing simplified model of elastic foundation, is modeled as an irregular continuous rigid surface with rebound and friction existing, and the forces exerted by the seabed consist of normal counterforce and isotropic tangential Coulomb friction resistance. To describe the detailed dynamic response, two coefficients are introduced by analogy with the theory of rigid body collision with friction. The cable-seabed kinematic and dynamic contact conditions are formulated subsequently, and are used to incorporate the seabed effect into the cable dynamics to produce a set of ordinary differential governing equations. In this paper, we employ 4th order Runge-Kutta method to solve these equations. Several simulation cases are presented to illustrate the seabed effect. The results show that friction and impact have a prominent influence on the statics and dynamics of the cable.