A preliminary study of excavated seabed assessment based on discontinuous deformation analysis

Hydraulic sand fill is one of the most important reclamation method in land reclamation process. During the reclamation process, the hydraulic pump of soil would induce excavation changes in the seabed. Therefore, assessment on the stability of excavated seabed area is an important research topic. In this study, a new numerical model based on Discontinuous Deformation Analysis (DDA) is proposed for the assessment on the stability of excavated seabed. In this study, the influence scale on the excavated seabed is discussed. The seabed is simulated by blocks in Discontinuous Deformation Analysis (DDA). The factors such as water depth and wave height are considered. A simualtion model on the excavated seabed are proposed to discuss the influence of hydraulic sand fill activity on seabed. As shown in the results, the seabed is unstable after excavation induced by hydraulic sand fill activities. The soil block would break apart and started to flow. After the block movements, the seabed would become stable again. The results in this study show that DDA is applicable in Marine Geotechnical Engineering field.