Submerged Floating Tunnels for Aquatourism
Abstract
In the last few years a rapid increase in the use of underwater space around the world has
led to the development of a new field of tourism called “Aquatourism” or “Submerged
Tourism”. This new field of aquatourism aims at providing a unique and unforgettable
underwater viewing experience to general public any time of the year and for unlimited
duration of time. As a part of aquatourism a new category of non-traditional transparent
pedestrian tunnels is being proposed which are fully submerged in water. These pedestrian
tunnels are envisioned to promote underwater tourism and recreational activities while at
the same time act as permanent links across islands or undersea connections between
specific underwater offshore sites and mainland.
This study aimed at understanding different floating and fixed bottom concepts for
submerged tunnels. Using pure bending and coupled bending-torsion models the dynamic
behavior of tunnel is studied. The use of acrylic plastic in combination with a steel spine
has been investigated as a primary structural material for tunnel and key insights into the
behavior of acrylic for circular and elliptical cross-sections have been developed and
documented in the form of design charts. For evaluating hydrodynamic loads on the tunnel
taking into account diffraction effects, Ogilvie’s Classical Solution has been used and the
results compared with more general Morison’s equation. Finally, the response behavior of
tunnel is simulated using purely analytical Modal Superposition Method and analytical/numerical Dynamic Stiffness Method.
Citation
Parth, Amritansh (2015). Submerged Floating Tunnels for Aquatourism. Master's thesis, Texas A & M University. Available electronically from https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /156280.