Promotion PhD at TU Delft

On June 12th 2025, our colleague Marcel ‘t Hart defended successfully his PhD thesis with the title: “Advancing Probabilistic Design of Submerged Floating Tunnels”. In 2019 Marcel started his research at the TU Delft in a joint public-private research program with the TU Delft, China Communication Construction Cp, Ltd. (CCCC) and TEC. This research focuses on improving the reliability and efficiency of submerged floating tunnel design using probabilistic methods. It brings together uncertainty modelling, structural reliability, and system-level analysis to support the development of innovative submerged infrastructure. We would like to congratulate Marcel with this special achievement.

Abstract of the thesis

The design of submerged floating tunnels (SFTs) is a challenging task, as it is often seen as a potential alternative water crossing measure for wide and deep water environments, and the challenge is to find ways to design and construct it both economically and reliably. The aim of this thesis is to provide tools for the design and assessment of SFTs. The approach is divided into different parts: first common overarching topics are addressed, to introduce the subject, but also to introduce common theoretical methods and target reliability concepts for structures and specifically for SFT. The second part is the application of probabilistic design and the use of both non-parametric Bayesian Networks and Vine Copulas, the analysis of traffic loads on an SFT and the quantification of the probability of failure due to bending moments, and a dynamic mooring analysis (DMA) is used on a hypothetical SFT model. The results of the research programme will be utilised to translate them into procedures for design and assess SFT in the first place, and also to use them in other fields of application within the industry. Modern numerical modelling tools in combination with experimental work are used to assess the structural behaviour.