Dynamic Response Analysis of Deep-Sea Sediments with Heterogeneity under Moving Nonuniform Mining Collector Loading

The dynamic response of heterogeneous deep-sea sediments under moving nonuniform mining collector loading was determined analytically. The heterogeneity of deep-sea sediments is associated with the elastic modulus increasing nonlinearly with depth. The ground pressure of the mining collector with longitudinal eccentricity was assumed to have a trapezoidal distribution. The complex Fourier series method was used to expand the soil displacement and the loading function of the ground pressure with eccentricity. Thus, the governing partial differential equations (PDEs) of motion for the soil were reduced to ordinary differential equations (ODEs) with respect to the horizontal direction x and the time t. The analytical solution of the ODEs was solved by the method of Frobenius. After verifying the analytical solution by means of comparisons with the Abaqus simulated results for the special cases of homogeneity under uniform load, this analytical solution was utilized to assess the effect of heterogeneity, eccentricity, and pedrail length on the response of deep-sea sediments.