Submarine landslides against a deformable cable: a tilting table centrifuge model

Publication Title
Submarine landslides against a deformable cable: a tilting table centrifuge model

Abstract

Dear Editorial team,

Please find in the attachment our revised manuscript. We would like to note that this contribution is intended as an extended abstract. As such, we avoid the use of sections and we would leave the discussion of details to its journal publication. Please find below the response to the comments raised in the first round of reviews.

C1. The first part of the introduction clearly introduces the research background and engineering significance, but the limitations of the key assumptions in the existing research and design methods are still briefly summarized. It is suggested that the author briefly explain the shortcomings of the traditional rigidity hypothesis in the landslide problem at the end of the introduction, and clarify the positioning and application scope of the physical model research in this paper.

R1. This has been briefly addressed at the end of the first paragraph by stating:

"The relevance of such hazards to the engineering practice is underscored by design frameworks such as the DNV-RP-F109 and DNVGL-RP-F114, which provide guidance on both on-bottom stability and pipeline-soil interaction. However, these are challenged when the impacted object undergoes significant displacement."

C2. The centrifugal acceleration (20g), model and prototype scale conversion and cable axial stiffness scaling relationship are given in this paper, but the mechanical similarity of glass beads as soil-like materials (such as internal friction angle, density, particle size) and its influence on landslide morphology and force are less discussed. It is suggested to add whether this kind of material is mainly used for qualitative mechanism research, or can reflect the actual seabed sand behavior to a certain extent.

R2. The approach of this model is to use glass beads as an analogue material to soil. Glass beads allow the simplification of the complex soil behaviour by means of a purely frictional granular material. This is included in the manuscript at:

"The strongbox is filled with 3 mm glass beads (=2500kg/m³, =30°), as an analogue to soil, and water."

C3. The description of landslide-cable interaction mechanism in this paper mainly depends on the qualitative analysis of experimental phenomena and velocity field, while the quantitative relationship between cable displacement, spring force evolution and inclination angle is relatively limited. It is suggested that the displacement-time or force-displacement curves under representative test conditions should be added to the results, and the response differences under different stiffness conditions should be clarified to further enhance the engineering applicability of the conclusions.

R3. These results are clearly interesting and have been used in the analysis of the interaction between the landslide and the cable. However, they are not included here given that this contribution is meant to be an extended abstract. Nevertheless, we would like to reassure that these will be discussed in the presentation during the conference.

C4. In this paper, the dimensionless force ratio is proposed to characterize the difference between the deformable cable and the traditional rigid assumption, which is instructive, but the physical meaning, application scope and potential engineering use mode are not fully explained. It is suggested to further explain how the index is used in the design stage in combination with the test results, so as to improve the readability of the transformation of research results into engineering practice.

R4. We address this approach through the lens of Rankines lateral earth pressure coefficients, which capture the dimensionless force ratio. However, the details of this analysis are not included here given that this contribution is meant to be an extended abstract. Nevertheless, we would like to reassure that these will be discussed in the presentation during the conference. This is presented in the abstract at:

"This interaction is simplified into a dimensionless force ratio, similar to Rankines lateral earth pressure approach, capturing the advantage of considering the cable displacement when compared to the current practice of assuming it as a bottom-fixed rigid body."

Authors
Miguel Angel Cabrera; Andrea Pasqua; A. Leonardi

Published In

11th International Conference on Physical Modelling in Geotechnics (ICPMG2026)

Theme

Session 3: Resilient geotechnical infrastructure