3D mathematical model and numerical simulation for laying marine cable along prescribed trajectory on seabed

In this paper, we establish a mathematical model, that is, an initial-boundary value problem of partial differential equations (PDE), to describe the three dimensional (3D) motion of a marine cable being laid onto the seabed of varying depth. Based on this PDE model, a numerical method for simulating dynamically the moving process of marine cable is developed, which can be used to determine the cable laying operations in practice such that the marine cable can be laid on the prescribed position on seabed.