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.

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.

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.