Understanding Sediment Dynamics at a Shipwreck Site Using CFD Modelling

Shipwrecks are important cultural heritage sites offshore. In many instances, given their often long-term emplacement on the seafloor, they offer natural laboratories to study complex interactions between human-induced obstacles and seabed dynamics. Such induced sediment mobility also pose significant threats offshore engineering infrastructure, such as turbine monopile foundations. Traditional methods can struggle capture nuance of these processes, with real-world surveys measuring effects only after installation, laboratory models suffering from scale-down inaccuracies. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modelling offers an effective means investigating dynamics, by using shipwrecks proxies for it utilize datasets verify its predictions. this study, high-resolution temporal bathymetric data were used in, verify, CFD investigate hydro- at a shipwreck site in tidally dominated wreck site. From comparison, simulations bed shear stress scalar transport correlate well known areas erosion deposition, serving basis future scour prediction studies creating tools renewable infrastructure planning de-risking.