Publications

The quantity of resuspended solids (RSS) created during dredging operations is both a production and environmental issue. Numerical models predict the movement of sediment plumes from dredging operations; however, these far-field models need a “source term” as input. The purpose of this work was to generate a “source term” by developing a near-field resuspension model for cutter suction dredging operations. [Read more…] about Near-Field Resuspension Model for a Cutter Suction Dredge

Predicting the performance of a drag embedment anchor (DEA) in a clay seabed requires: (1) prediction of anchor embedment depth as a function of drag distance, and (2) prediction of load capacity for any given embedment depth. [Read more…] about Predictive Model for Drag Embedment Anchor Performance in Clay Seabed

Reliable deepwater anchor performance is critical for mooring floating Mobile Offshore Drilling Units (MODUs). Anchor failure can result in MODU’s going adrift and colliding with production structures and/or dragging anchors and damaging oil and gas pipelines or subsea production systems. [Read more…] about The Performance of Drag Embedment Anchors (DEA)

Aeolian processes involve the wind action on a sedimentary substrate, namely erosion, sand transport and deposition. They are responsible for the emergence of aeolian dunes and ripples but also erosive structures like yardangs. [Read more…] about On Aeolian Transport: Grain-Size Interactions Dynamical Mechanisms and Scaling Laws

Suction piles are used for anchoring mooring lines at the seafloor. One of the challenges of their installation is the occurrence of the heave resonance and the heave induced pitch resonance during the lowering process. [Read more…] about Numerical Simulation on Dynamics of Suction Piles during Lowering Operations

Vegetation greatly affects the formation and dynamics of dune fields in coastal areas. In the present work, we use dune modeling in order to investigate the genesis and early development stages of coastal dune fields in the presence of vegetation. [Read more…] about Model for the Genesis of Coastal Dune Fields with Vegetation

The cost of dredging is requiring more efficient dredging systems. Dredging of contaminated sediments is requiring more accurate dredging meaning that only the contaminated sediments are removed. [Read more…] about Improvements for Dredging and Dredged Material Handling

Numerical modeling of the rapid dune profile changes that may occur due to wave overtopping and sediment overwash during a storm is challenging. One of the reasons is the limited amount of available field and laboratory data related to the problem. Another reason is the complex interaction of hydrodynamics, morphological changes and sediment transport in the intermittently wet and dry zone of the dune profile. [Read more…] about Wave-induced Overwash and Destruction of Sand Dunes

The isotropic compression of polydisperse packings of frictionless spheres is modeled with the Discrete Element Method (DEM). The evolution of coordination number, fraction of rattlers, isotropic fabric, and pressure (isotropic stress) is reported as function of volume fraction for different system parameters. [Read more…] about Constitutive relations for the isotropic deformation of frictionless packings of a polydisperse spheres

Basically, sand dunes are patterns resulting from the coupling of hydrodynamic and sediment transport. Once grains move, they modify the surface topography which in turns modifies the flow. This important feedback mechanism lies at the core of continuous dune modelling. [Read more…] about A Continuous Model for Sand Dunes: Review, new developments and applications to Barchan Dunes and Barchan Dune Fields