Influence of Soil Depth on Designing a Cutter Suction Dredger

Cutter suction dredgers are widely used in port, waterway dredging and reclamation projects. The distance from the dredging to the discharge field of the cutter suction dredger is generally smaller than that of the trailing suction dredger. The biggest advantage of using a textured suction dredger is the ability to get an accurate grip profile.

Soil type has a large impact on cutter head power, length of the cutter boom, punt, and pile design. To some extent, the soil type also affects the selection of suction pipe and hydraulic pipe diameter. Under the same cutting volume/power, the productivity of a rock-type cutter suction dredger is lower than that of a sediment-type cutter suction dredger. Therefore, the diameter of the mud delivery pipe of the rock-type cutter suction dredger should be smaller. In addition, as the concentration of the soil mixture increases, the benefit is greater. At the same production rate, it is possible to increase the soil delivery concentration by reducing the flow rate of the mud pump. Because transporting solids requires a smaller flow rate, which can be achieved by reducing the diameter of the mud pipe. But it must be emphasized that reducing the flow rate of the dredge pump may result in a larger overflow.