To investigate the flow characteristics of sediments disturbed by the track of a collector vehicle during deep-sea mining, numerical simulations of continuous sediment disturbance by multiple grousers were conducted based on the Eulerian multiphase flow model. The mass and the dispersion velocity of disturbed sediments were analyzed, and the effects of in-situ disturbance, subsidence depth, and bottom-current velocity on the flow characteristics of sediments. The results indicate that when a collector vehicle travels 1.5 meters at a speed of 0.6 m/s, the mass of disturbed sediments at the water-sediment interface reaches 70.8 kg. After 2.5 seconds, the horizontal dispersion velocity of the plume reaches 0.37 m/s and the vertical dispersion velocity is 0.269 m/s. Subsidence depth increases, the dispersion intensity aggregates. In-situ disturbance causes more severe damage to the soil layer. Seabed bottom-current velocity, although being lower, can also bring influence to both the concentration and dispersion range of sediments.

deep-sea collector vehicle  /  disturbance plume  /  deep-sea mining  /  marine environment  /  Eulerian solid-liquid two-phase flow  /  numerical simulation  /  multiple grousers  /  sediment  /  plume  /  flow characteristics  /  dispersion law