IMMERSED STRUCTURES TOUCHDOWN ON A GRAVEL BED COVERED

WITH MUD LAYER: APPLICATION OF CFD TO DETERMINE MUD

CLEARANCE AND GRAVEL STABILITY

B. Decrop1, E. Fonias2, F. Kyrousi 3, T. Wolf4 and K. de Wit5

Abstract: The process of installation of submerged structures in the presence of sediments is a complex procedure.
The lowering speed of those structures can jeopardize the stability of the gravel bed used for providing uniform
bed conditions for the structure placement. Furthermore, a layer of deposited sediments on top of the gravel bed
can pose severe risks with respect to installation tolerances and project delays. In the present paper, a numerical
model is presented, capable of simulating the last stage of installation of structures on a porous gravel bed, taking
into account the presence of a mud layer. The model uses a dynamic mesh to simulate the motion of structures
within the numerical domain. The model can determine the uplift forces exerted by the mud layer on the structure,
along with the motion of the mud layer during the installation procedure. This method provides insights in the
risk for (1) a remaining layer of mud between structure and gravel bed and (2) damage to the gravel bed due to
lowering-induced flows.

Key words: structures installation, porous media, fluid mud

1 IMDC, Belgium, boudewijn.decrop@imdc.be

2
IMDC, Belgium, efstratios.fonias@imdc.be
3 IMDC, Belgium, foteini.kyrousi@imdc.be
4 IMDC, Belgium, kathleen.de.wit@imdc.be
1 INTRODUCTION

The process of touchdown of structures onto a porous bed during installation presents high complexity. The
lowering speed of the structure plays an important role as it affects the hydrodynamic conditions in the vicinity of
the structure and most importantly in the region between the structure and the porous bed (see Figure 1). High
lowering speed means high rate of water displacement and thus high shear stresses on the surface of the gravel
bed that can potentially affect the stability of this structure.

Furthermore, high lowering speed results in high reaction force by the water-sediment body onto the structure. In
cases where that reaction force exceeds the total submerged weight of the structure, the structure cannot be
lowered anymore, and a layer of viscous sediment remains beneath the structure.

During the installation process, special care must be given in case there is fluid mud between the porous bed and
the structure. A layer of fluid mud behaves as a non-Newtonean fluid with higher viscosity than water with the
resulting shear stress expected to increase faster with strain rate in comparison to a case without mud. The
thickness of the mud layer and the rheological characteristics (density, plasticity, viscosity etc.) play a crucial role
and they determine the behaviour of the structure in the last phase before touchdown.

Figure 1. Schematic representation of the process of touchdown of structures on porous bed

In the present work, a numerical model simulating the last stage of installation of structures onto porous beds is
presented. A layer of fluid mud with different rheological parameters and initial thickness can be considered as a
separate phase that can be mixed with the surrounding water volume. The structure is considered as a solid body
and its motion is defined by the predefined lowering speed using the technique of dynamic mesh. During the
simulation, the hydrodynamic force exerted by the flow on the bottom surface of the structure is monitored in
order to examine whether the chosen lowering speed results in force that increases the weight of the structure. The
shear stresses onto the porous bed are also monitored in order to examine whether it reaches critical levels that
can jeopardize the stability of the porous bed.

2 THE NUMERICAL MODEL

The Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) code Ansys Fluent 2020 R2 has been used in order to simulate the
lowering of the structure along with the behaviour of the mud layer considered on top of the gravel bed. The flow
is solved by means of a three-dimensional Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) equation model. The water
and sediment (fluid mud) phases are solved. The fluid mud phase is introduced by means of a mixture model.

Due to the unsteady nature of the problem, transient simulations have been carried out.

2.1 Fluid mud layer

A layer of fluid mud has been considered to be on top of the gravel bed. The behaviour of the fluid mud is dictated
according to the Herschel-Bulkley model (Herschel and Bulkley, 1926).
The variation of the shear stress with shear rate according to the Herschel-Bulkley model, where the non-
Newtonian viscosity is equal to:

𝜏0
+ 𝑘𝛾̇ 𝑛−1 , 𝛾̇ > 𝛾̇0
𝛾̇
𝜂= 𝛾̇ (1)
𝜏0 (2 − ) 𝛾̇
𝛾̇0
+ 𝑘(𝛾̇0 )𝑛−1 [(2 − 𝑛) + (𝑛 − 1) ] , 𝛾̇ < 𝛾̇0
{ 𝛾̇0 𝛾̇0

Figure 2. Shear rate vs shear stress curve for the Herschel-Bulkley model.

where 𝜏0 is the yield shear stress, 𝛾̇0 the critical shear rate shown in Figure 2, 𝑘 is the consistency index and 𝑛 is
the power-law index. The parameters of Herschel-Bulkley law, required for the numerical model, can be obtained
either from analysis of field samples in the area of interest or from the literature (Wurpts and Torn, 2005; Schippa,
2018). An example case of fitting Herschel-Bulkley to raw data measurements can be observed in Figure 3, used
to obtain the 4 model parameters described above. Tests carried out on samples taken from the project site are
preferred since rheological properties of mud can vary widely. Figure 4 shows points from sample measurements
from different locations (corresponding to different colors) of a project’s area. Each point of a specific location
corresponds to a different water content. The water content is defined as weight of water divided by weight of
solids. For each location a curve can be fitted to determine the relation of yield shear stress and density, and similar
relations can be determined for the rest of the parameters of the Herschel-Bulkley model.

Figure 3. Fitted Herschel-Bulkley model (green line) to raw data (blue line).
 Figure 4. Plots of yield shear stress against density from field measurements. Each color represents a different
sample area, different point corresponds to different water content.

A general large-scale model with a consolidation module (TELEMAC-3D) can be used to obtain realistic density
profiles to be introduced as initial conditions for the CFD simulations. The large scale model can take into account
realistic evolution suspended sediment concentration with regards to tidal flow. The model results are validated
against consolidation tests of field samples as shown in Figure 5.

Figure 5. Evolution (30 days) of the average sediment (wet) density [kg/m3] due to consolidation. Dashed black
curves indicate the range of consolidation from laboratory experiments with field mud samples. The red curve
shows the simulated consolidation with a schematic TELEMAC-3D model.

2.1 Porous media

The gravel bed consists of gravel with defined d50 and is treated as a porous medium. Moreover, the gravel bed
has been considered to have defined void ratio. The void ratio is the ratio of volume of voids 𝑉𝑣 to the volume of
solids 𝑉𝑠 . The porosity is the ratio of volume of voids to the total volume 𝑉𝑡 :

𝑉𝑣 𝑉𝑣
𝑛= =
𝑉𝑡 𝑉𝑠 + 𝑉𝑣 (2)

Thus, the relationship between the void ratio and the porosity is:
 3.5 (1 − 𝜀)
𝐶2 =
𝑑50 𝜀 3 (3)

For taking into account the porosity of the gravel bed within the model’s momentum equations, we need to
calculate two parameters, the inertial loss coefficient and the inverse permeability.

The inertial loss coefficient is computed by:

𝑛 𝜀
𝜀= ↔𝑛=
1−𝑛 1+𝜀 (4)

Permeability is computed by:

𝐷𝑝 2 𝜀3
𝑎= (5)
150 (1 − 𝜀)2

In this method, both fully filled gravel beds, gravel beds with so-called snake pattern and any other complex
shape can be considered.

2.1 Dynamic mesh

The lowering of the structure is modelled numerically using a dynamic mesh. A typical section of such meshes is
shown in Figure 6. A remeshing method is used to update the mesh in the fluid region around the structure. In the
area between the structure and the gravel bed a layering method is used. The mesh is updated every computational
time step to account for structure’s movement. As the structure (shown in red box in Figure 6) moves downwards,
the layering mesh between the structure and the gravel bed is compressed until the structure touches the gravel
bed.

Figure 6. Section indicating typical form of mesh considered for the touchdown of structures (red box) onto
gravel bed (yellow box).

With regards to mesh quality, the following criteria have been taken into account:

Smoothness: The maximum growth rate for adjacent cells has been defined of 1.2.

Skewness: is the difference between the shape of the cell and the shape of an equilateral cell of equivalent volume.
A general rule is that the maximum skewness for a triangular/tetrahedral mesh in most flows should be kept below
0.95, with an average value that is less than 0.33.

Orthogonal quality: is computed for cells using cell skewness and the vector from the cell centroid to each of its
faces, the corresponding face area vector, and the vector from the cell centroid to the centroids of each of the
adjacent cells. The aim is to have as many cells as possible with orthogonality close to one.

3 TYPICAL RESULTS

The lowering of the structure is expected to be on a steady speed 𝑢⃗ , as shown in Figure 1. However, as the structure
moves downwards toward the gravel bed, the hydrodynamic force exerted by the water to the structure is expected
to increase. In that case it is expected that the lowering speed should be decreased from 𝑢 ⃗ 1 to 𝑢
⃗ 2 . This is expected
to decrease the hydrodynamic force on the structure as shown in Figure 7. The target is to have a hydrodynamic
force that is always smaller than the submerged weight of the structure so that the lowering of the structure is not
obstructed.

Figure 7. Qualitative relation of hydrodynamic force in relation to the distance of the structure from gravel bed.

A typical application involving an installation of a structure has a setup with gravel bed and mud layer as shown
in Figure 8. The initial position of a solid structure indicated in grey is on a short distance of 50 cm above the
gravel bed indicated in dark brown. The layer of fluid mud is shown onto the gravel bed by means of the density
contours.

Figure 8. Density contours at a vertical section when the structure is at distance 50cm above the gravel bed.

Every timestep the structure moves downwards based on a prescribed velocity up to the point that it reaches the
gravel bed. During this motion, the fluid mud layer is expected to be displaced and further suspended based on
the local pressure gradient and flow velocity. Figure 9 indicates the mixture density of fluid mud and water when
the touchdown of the structure occurs.

Figure 9. Density contours at a vertical section when the structure is on top of the gravel bed.
 Figure 10. Contour plot of the velocity magnitude at the interface between the structure and the gravel bed just
before the touchdown. Gravel bed is indicated in black solid lines.

Figure 10 shows the velocity magnitude that develops by water evacuation away from the region between the
structure and the gravel bed. As the structure moves downwards, the water-fluid mud mixture is displaced
outwards, resulting in a velocity field that depends on the lowering speed of the structure, the fluid mud layer
initial thickness and the characteristics of the fluid mud. Nevertheless, part of the flow is moving inside the gravel
bed. The velocities within the porous medium, shown in Figure 11, are two orders of magnitude smaller than those
in the water/mixture volume.

Figure 11. Velocity vectors beneath the structure and inside the gravel bed. The color of the vectors is based on
the velocity magnitude just before the touchdown. Gravel bed is indicated in black solid lines.

As previously stated, the lowering speed of the structure may not be constant but change into a smaller value due
to the fact that the initial lowering speed results in faster displacement of water and fluid mud, which results in
higher pressure distribution at the bottom of the structure. It is expected that the last time instant with the highest
lowering speed would demonstrate the highest velocities on top of the gravel bed. Such time instant is
demonstrated in Figure 12. The maximum velocity or the maximum shear stress on such surfaces can potentially
jeopardize the stability of the gravel bed. Based on the geotechnical characteristics of the gravel bed this can be
an additional reason to reduce the speed that the structure moves towards the gravel bed.
 Figure 12. Velocity contours at the top of the gravel bed at the moment when the maximum velocities occur.

As an additional benefit of the above methodology, the maximum bed shear stress 𝜏𝑏 can be calculated. Then the
values of the bed shear stress on the nearby bed can be examined. In cases where the bathymetry forms a trench
or a pit, it is possible that its stability can be compromised if erosion occurs in the bottom of the slope. Erosion is
expected to occur when the bed shear stress exceeds the critical shear stress. The critical shear stress depends on
the sediment characteristics.

4 CONCLUSIONS

In the present paper, we have presented a numerical model set-up for the investigation of the process of touchdown
of structures onto a porous bed during installation, with or without the presence of a mud layer. This model deals
with the complexity due to the occurrence of fluid mud and answers the question whether the risk of a remaining
layer of mud below the structure exists.

The mud phase is simulated by means of a mixture model, and the rheology using the Herschel-Bulkley model.
The motion of the structure is achieved by means of dynamic mesh motion. The focus of such typical applications
is placed on the viscous resistance of the mud and the resulting hydrodynamic force onto the bottom surface of
the structure which should not exceed the submerged weight of the structure as this would result in stopping the
lowering process. In addition, monitoring the velocity field especially onto the gravel bed top surface and soil
surface can help determine whether there is danger concerning the stability of the gravel bed or the erosion of the
soil surface.

As such, a trade-off can be achieved between applying sufficient lowering speed to clean up mud and staying
below the critical speed for gravel bed damage.

REFERENCES

Herschel W. H. & Bulkley R. (1926). Konsistenzmessungen von gummi-benzollösungen. Kolloid-

Zeitschrift, Vol 39, No. 4, 291-300.

Schippa L. (2018). The Effects of Sediment Size and Concentration on the Rheological Behavior of Debris
Flows. Granularity in Materials Science, p. 43.

Wurpts R. & Torn P. (2005). 15 years experience with fluid mud: Definition of the nautical bottom with
rheological parameters. Terra et Aqua, Vol. 99, pp.22-32.

Ansys, Inc. (2020). ANSYS FLUENT User’s Guide. Release 20.0.