Mud Density Prospection Using a Tuning Fork
Publication: Journal of Waterway, Port, Coastal, and Ocean Engineering
Volume 141, Issue 5
Abstract
Several instruments using different technologies are available for the survey and characterization of underwater mud deposits. This paper is concerned with an instrument that uses tuning fork technology to estimate mud density in the field. A model explaining how the tuning fork operates and how it can be used to measure mud properties is presented. In this model, the tuning fork is represented as a damped harmonic oscillator, and the mud is considered a viscoelastic medium showing an elastic response for small deformations and a viscous response for large deformations. The model clearly shows that the tuning fork must be calibrated for the local mud at each survey location. This was confirmed during surveys at the Amazon estuary and the Río de la Plata during 2011 and 2012. The measurements obtained during these surveys are compared with measurements performed with optical and acoustic instruments with very good results.
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Acknowledgments
The authors thank Agencia Nacional de Investigación e Innovación (ANII), Uruguay, for the financial support given to the first author under its scholarships program Iniciación a la Investigación (2011). They also thank the CAPES-UdelaR academic exchange program (026/2010) of the CAPES Foundation, Brazil, and the Universidad de la República, Uruguay. The survey at the Montevideo Port was performed during an outreach project between the Universidad de la República and the Adminsitración Nacional de Puertos (ANP). The support of Katoen Natie Uruguay during that project is also gratefully acknowledged. The survey at the Amazon estuary was performed in the context of the project Canalnorte: Subsídios para aprimorar a navegação no Canal Norte do Río Amazonas, supported by FINEP Fondo Sector CT-Aqua. We also thank Ismael Piedra Cueva and Thiago Leão for making the work presented here possible.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Waterway, Port, Coastal, and Ocean Engineering
Volume 141 • Issue 5 • September 2015
Copyright
© 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Sep 23, 2013
Accepted: Sep 30, 2014
Published online: Nov 4, 2014
Published in print: Sep 1, 2015
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