The trailing suction hopper dredger(TSHD) completes the sediment loading by the hopper system. The loading efficiency of the hopper system is affected by the hopper geometry. The geometry of hopper should be optimized according to the loading and deposition process in hopper, so as to improve the loading efficiency of the TSHD. In this paper, based on the Navier-Stokes equations and the Camp method, a three-dimensional numerical mode of hopper system was presented, and then verified by the real ship loading data of sediment with different particle sizes, and then the influence of hopper geometry on the loading of sediment is simulated and analyzed with the model. The results show that, for the fine sediment (D50<100μm), the hopper geometry should be wide and shallow for higher loading and smaller overflow loss during loading. As the sediment particles become coarser, the length of the hull should be used as much as possible to make the hopper and increase the length of hopper, so as to enhance the sediment deposition in loading. The relationship curve between overflow loss and length depth ratio of the hopper is proposed, which provides a reference for the design of hopper system.
The trailing sunction hopper dredge, which is named TSHD for short, is a kind of sea-going dredger, used in many project(Cees van Rhee, 2001). When TSHD dredging, the suction pipes are put down to the sand surface under the water, and the hopper are loaded by pumping a sand-water mixture from the dredge head.
The TSHD completes the sediment loading by the hopper system. When the hopper full filled by dredging sediment, the loading process will be continue until the inflow concentration near the overflow for higher loading, during this time, sediment would be transported with the overflow discharge overboard, which is called overflow loss. The aim of TSHD dredging is to obtain the higher loading capacity and the lower overloss within a reasonable loading time, which is expressed by loading efficiency. So the loading efficiency has a very important impact on the overall efficiency of dredging.
