Multi-physics SPH simulation of complex marine-engineering hydrodynamic problems

The paper reports on the applicability of the Smoothed-Particle-Hydrodynamics (SPH) method to complex, full-scale marine-engineering problems. Investigations include the installation process of a gravity foundation for wind turbines, jacket launching from a barge and propeller induced scouring of the waterway bottom. Supplementary validations for a sequence of fundamental cases indicate an encouraging predictive accuracy for the considered physical phenomena. Results demonstrate that SPH is able to address the problems featuring fluid/structure/soil-interaction and the hydrodynamic interplay between several floating bodies which pose challenges to traditional mesh-based solvers.

► Presentation of SPH models for water/soil interaction, floaters, and propellers. ► Validation cases show very encouraging agreements to reference data. ► Application to foundation installation, jacket launching, and propeller scouring. ► Regarded application types pose challenges to alternative simulation approaches. ► The SPH procedure is seen to provide promising results.