Mechanism of local scour around submarine pipelines based on numerical simulation of turbulence model

The mechanism of local scour around submarine pipelines is studied numerically based on a renormalized group （RNG） turbulence model. To validate the numerical model, the equilibrium profiles of local scour for two cases are simulated and compared with the experimental data. It shows that the RNG turbulence model can give an appropriate prediction for the configuration of equilibrium scour hole, and it is applicable to this situation. The local scour mechanism around submarine pipelines including the flow structure, shear stress distribution and pressure field is then analyzed and compared with experiments. For further comparison and validation, especially for the flow structure, a numerical calculation employing the large eddy simulation （LES） is also conducted. The numerical results of RNG demonstrate that the critical factor governing the equilibrium profile is the seabed shear stress distribution in the case of bed load sediment transport, and the two-equation RNG turbulence model coupled with the law of wall is capable of giving a satisfying estimation for the bed shear stress. Moreover, the piping phenomena due to the great difference of pressure between the upstream and downstream parts of pipelines and the vortex structure around submarine pipelines are also simulated successfully, which are believed to be the important factor that lead to the onset of local scour.

Investigation of Scouring Mechanism Around A Circular Pier

In the present study, the flow field around a circular pier is investigated with experimental measurements and numerical simulations. The transient flow patterns during erosion are studied in detail. The results show that the traditional equations of particle motion are not perfect for the calculation of the sand motion under this complex flow situation. The scouring agents, such as turbulent intensity, the fluctuating pressure and the vertical pressure gradient, having many effects on the sand motion with the increasing scouring depth, need to be considered in modifying the traditional model.

Local scour at offshore windfarm monopile foundations: A review

In this article,current research findings of local scour at offshore windfarm monopile foundations are presented.The scour mechanisms and scour depth prediction formulas under different hydrodynamic conditions are summarized,including the current-only condition,wave-only condition,combined wave-current condition,and complex dynamic condition.Furthermore,this article analyzes the influencing factors on the basis of classical equations for predicting the equilibrium scour depth under specific conditions.The weakness of existing researches and future prospects are also discussed.It is suggested that future research shall focus on physical experiments under unsteady tidal currents or other complex loadings.The computational fluid dynamics-discrete element method and artificial intelligence technique are suggested being adopted to study the scour at offshore windfarm foundations.

LARGE-EDDY SIMULATION OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL TURBULENT FLOW AROUND A CIRCULAR PIER

ABSTRACT： In this article, the turbulent flow field and the scouring mechanism around a circular pier were numerically investigated using the Large Eddy Simulation （LES） method for three scouring holes. The effects of the bottom topographies on the flow structure were studied in detail. The results show that at the downstream of the pier, as the scouring depth increases, the bed shear stress decreases and approaches to the undisturbed shear stress, however, the turbulent intensity, the fluctuating pressure, and the vertical pressure gradient increase gradually.

Numerical simulation of turbulent flow behind sluice gate under submerged discharge conditions

The turbulent flow discharging under a sluice gate is one kind of typical flows with complicated boundaries in hydraulic and hydroelectric engineering, and the characteristics of its flow field and flow evolution are important in engineering hydraulics. Although there were many studies in this regard, which mainly focus on the discharge capacity, the local scour and the mean flow field, some issues remain to be further investigated, for example, the variation of the mechanical energy during the scouring process, and the adjustment of the unsteady turbulent flow after the local scour with the downstream steady uniform flow. In this paper, the turbulent flow behind a sluice gate is divided into a rapidly varied flow region and a gradually varied flow region, and the above problems are investigated by theoretical analysis and numerical simulation. The main conclusions are as follows：（1） In the discharging process of the turbulent flow under a sluice gate, the river bed would be scoured continuously and the water–air interface is adjusted accordingly, which leads to a decrease of the mechanical energy of the total flow in the rapidly varied flow region, and the mechanical energy loss would also decrease with the increase of the time, yet the variation of the flow discharge under the sluice gate is very small.（2） In the link between the rapidly varied flow and the uniform flow downstream, the mean wall shear stress and the coefficient for the mechanical energy loss would decrease in the longitudinal direction, the decay of the turbulent kinetic energy near the free surface is much more significant than that near the bed in the longitudinal direction, and the mean turbulent kinetic energy in the section would decrease in the longitudinal direction and the decreasing rate is smaller than that of the mean wall shear stress.