Equilibrium Scour Prediction for Uniform and Non-Uniform Cylindrical Structures Under Clear Water Conditions

Author(s):  
Nicholas S. Tavouktsoglou ◽  
John M. Harris ◽  
Richard R. Simons ◽  
Richard J. S. Whitehouse

Offshore Gravity Base Foundations (GBFs) are often designed with non-uniform cylindrical geometries. Such structures interact with the local hydrodynamics which amplify the adverse dynamic pressure gradient, which is responsible for all flow and scour phenomena including the bed shear stress amplification. In this study a method for predicting the effect non-uniform cylindrical structure geometries have on local scour around offshore structures under the forcing of a unidirectional current is presented. The interaction of the flow field with the sediment around these complex structures is described in terms of non-dimensional parameters that characterize the similitude of water-sediment movement. The paper presents insights in the influence a form of the Euler number has on the equilibrium scour around uniform and non-uniform cylindrical structures. Here the Euler number is defined as the depth averaged pressure gradient (calculated using potential flow theory) divided by the product of the square of mean flow velocity and the fluid density. The insights are confirmed through a series of experiments where the equilibrium scour was monitored for different types of structures and flow conditions. The results of this study show that the Euler number is a more appropriate parameter for describing the scour potential of a structure compared to using the equivalent pile diameter. The experimental data show that an increasing Euler number yields an increase in the non-dimensional equilibrium scour. The results of this study also suggest that an increase in the water depth yields a decrease in the equilibrium scour depth for the conical, cylindrical base structures and truncated cylinders and an increase in the equilibrium scour depth for the uniform cylinders which can also be explained in terms of changes in the Euler number. Finally, the Buckingham π theorem in conjunction with the experimental data was used to derive a simple shape correction factor that could be used to determine the scour depth of a non-uniform cylindrical structure based on the equilibrium scour produced for the same flow conditions by a uniform cylinder.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gaston Latessa ◽  
Angela Busse ◽  
Manousos Valyrakis

<p>The prediction of particle motion in a fluid flow environment presents several challenges from the quantification of the forces exerted by the fluid onto the solids -normally with fluctuating behaviour due to turbulence- and the definition of the potential particle entrainment from these actions. An accurate description of these phenomena has many practical applications in local scour definition and to the design of protection measures.</p><p>In the present work, the actions of different flow conditions on sediment particles is investigated with the aim to translate these effects into particle entrainment identification through analytical solid dynamic equations.</p><p>Large Eddy Simulations (LES) are an increasingly practical tool that provide an accurate representation of both the mean flow field and the large-scale turbulent fluctuations. For the present case, the forces exerted by the flow are integrated over the surface of a stationary particle in the streamwise (drag) and vertical (lift) directions, together with the torques around the particle’s centre of mass. These forces are validated against experimental data under the same bed and flow conditions.</p><p>The forces are then compared against threshold values, obtained through theoretical equations of simple motions such as rolling without sliding. Thus, the frequency of entrainment is related to the different flow conditions in good agreement with results from experimental sediment entrainment research.</p><p>A thorough monitoring of the velocity flow field on several locations is carried out to determine the relationships between velocity time series at several locations around the particle and the forces acting on its surface. These results a relevant to determine ideal locations for flow investigation both in numerical and physical experiments.</p><p>Through numerical experiments, a large number of flow conditions were simulated obtaining a full set of actions over a fixed particle sitting on a smooth bed. These actions were translated into potential particle entrainment events and validated against experimental data. Future work will present the coupling of these LES models with Discrete Element Method (DEM) models to verify the entrainment phenomena entirely from a numerical perspective.</p>


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 1373
Author(s):  
Ruigeng Hu ◽  
Xiuhai Wang ◽  
Hongjun Liu ◽  
Yao Lu

A series of laboratory experiments were conducted in a wave-current flume to investigate the scour evolution and scour morphology around tripod in combined waves and current. The tripod model was made using the 3D printing technology, and it was installed in seabed with three installation angles α = 0°, 90°and 180° respectively. In the present study, the scour evolution and scour characteristic were first analyzed. Then, the equilibrium scour depth Seq was investigated. Furthermore, a parametric study was carried out to study the effects of Froude number Fr and Euler number Eu on equilibrium scour depth Seq respectively. Finally, the effects of tripod’s structural elements on Seq were discussed. The results indicate that the maximum scour hole appeared underneath the main column for installation angle α = 0°, 90° and 180°. The Seq for α = 90° was greater than the case of α = 0° and α = 180°, implying the tripod suffered from more severe scour for α = 90°. When KC was fixed, the dimensionless time scale T* for α = 90° was slightly larger than the case of α = 0° and α = 180° and the T* was linearly correlated with Ucw in the range of 0.347 < Ucw < 0.739. The higher Fr and Eu both resulted in the greater scour depth for tripod in combined waves and current. The logarithmic formula can depict the general trend of Seq and Fr (Eu) for tripod in combined waves and current.


Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 3117
Author(s):  
Raphael Crowley ◽  
William Cottrell ◽  
Alexander Singleton

This paper begins by demonstrating how the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) local scour equations take the ratio between grain size and structure size into account when computing equilibrium local scour depth and contrasts this with the well-known Colorado State University (CSU) equation that does not take sediment information into account. Then, a relatively recent empirical formulation from the J-L. Briaud research group for computing local equilibrium scour depth is presented that appears to take the structure size/grain size ratio into account indirectly. Next, a possible explanation for the dependency between local equilibrium scour depth and the structure/grain size ratio is presented that was originally developed by D. Max Sheppard in 2004. This explanation shows that superimposing the pressure gradient around a particle with the pressure gradient around a pile leads to the dependency between equilibrium scour depth and the grain size/structure size ratio. Finally, a new formulation for local equilibrium scour depth based upon turbulent energy spectrum decay is presented. This new formulation reduces the local scour problem to a problem whereby turbulent diffusivity must be better understood. However, this new formulation also appears to show a dependency between equilibrium scour depth and the grain size/structure size ratio. Overall, the analysis presented herein provides several reasons, explanations, and pieces of evidence to suggest that the grain/structure size ratio is an important parameter to consider when computing local equilibrium scour depth.


2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (10) ◽  
pp. 342 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sun ◽  
Lam ◽  
Dai ◽  
Hamill

Scour induced by a Darrieus-type tidal current turbine was investigated by using a joint numerical and experimental method with emphasis on the scour process of a full-scale turbine. This work proposes a new numerical method to estimate turbine scour developments, followed by model validation through experimental data in the initial stage. The small-scale numerical model was further extended to a full-scale model for the prediction of turbine scour. The numerical model consists of (1) k-ω turbulence closure, (2) a sediment transport model, and (3) a sediment slide model. The transient-state model was coupled with a morphologic model to calculate scour development. A dynamic mesh updating technique was implemented, enabling the autoupdate of data for the grid nodes of the seabed at each time step. Comparisons between the numerical results and the experimental measurements showed that the proposed model was able to capture the main features of the scour process. However, the numerical model underestimated about 15%–20% of the equilibrium scour depth than experimental data. An investigation of the temporal and spatial development of seabed scour around a full-scale Darrieus-type tidal current turbine is demonstrated. This work concludes that the proposed numerical model can effectively predict the scour process of tidal current turbines, and the rotating rotor has a significant impact on the equilibrium scour depth for full-scale turbines.


2017 ◽  
Vol 143 (5) ◽  
pp. 04017017 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. S. Tavouktsoglou ◽  
J. M. Harris ◽  
R. R. Simons ◽  
R. J. S. Whitehouse

Author(s):  
Jun Y. Lee ◽  
Jasmin B. T. McInerney ◽  
Fauzi A. Hardjanto ◽  
Shuhong Chai ◽  
Remo Cossu ◽  
...  

When a subsea pipeline is laid on an uneven seabed, the pipeline can have an initial elevation, potentially compromising its on-bottom stability; scouring due to flow conditions around the pipe can further exacerbate the problem. We assess the capability of the two-phase Eulerian-Eulerian OpenFOAM solver, twoPhaseEulerFoam, in terms of predicting the equilibrium scour depth beneath a pipe at different initial elevations under a steady current for the live bed condition. The predictions were found to be in good agreement with published experimental and numerical results; however, similar to a recent study involving another two-phase Eulerian-Eulerian model, the scour time scale was under-predicted. The predicted equilibrium scour depth was seen to decrease with an increase in the initial pipe elevation. The numerical results were also compared to predictions that were made using previous empirical equations. The most comprehensive equation to date showed a good agreement with the present numerical results. We conclude that this open-source solver, twoPhaseEulerFoam, can be used to predict the equilibrium scour depth beneath subsea pipelines, with short computation times and negligible mesh dependency.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 886
Author(s):  
Ruigeng Hu ◽  
Hongjun Liu ◽  
Hao Leng ◽  
Peng Yu ◽  
Xiuhai Wang

A series of numerical simulation were conducted to study the local scour around umbrella suction anchor foundation (USAF) under random waves. In this study, the validation was carried out firstly to verify the accuracy of the present model. Furthermore, the scour evolution and scour mechanism were analyzed respectively. In addition, two revised models were proposed to predict the equilibrium scour depth Seq around USAF. At last, a parametric study was carried out to study the effects of the Froude number Fr and Euler number Eu for the Seq. The results indicate that the present numerical model is accurate and reasonable for depicting the scour morphology under random waves. The revised Raaijmakers’s model shows good agreement with the simulating results of the present study when KCs,p < 8. The predicting results of the revised stochastic model are the most favorable for n = 10 when KCrms,a < 4. The higher Fr and Eu both lead to the more intensive horseshoe vortex and larger Seq.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (12) ◽  
pp. 3625
Author(s):  
Jon Hardwick ◽  
Ed B. L. Mackay ◽  
Ian G. C. Ashton ◽  
Helen C. M. Smith ◽  
Philipp R. Thies

Numerical modeling of currents and waves is used throughout the marine energy industry for resource assessment. This study compared the output of numerical flow simulations run both as a standalone model and as a two-way coupled wave–current simulation. A regional coupled flow-wave model was established covering the English Channel using the Delft D-Flow 2D model coupled with a SWAN spectral wave model. Outputs were analyzed at three tidal energy sites: Alderney Race, Big Roussel (Guernsey), and PTEC (Isle of Wight). The difference in the power in the tidal flow between coupled and standalone model runs was strongly correlated to the relative direction of the waves and currents. The net difference between the coupled and standalone runs was less than 2.5%. However, when wave and current directions were aligned, the mean flow power was increased by up to 7%, whereas, when the directions were opposed, the mean flow power was reduced by as much as 9.6%. The D-Flow Flexible Mesh model incorporates the effects of waves into the flow calculations in three areas: Stokes drift, forcing by radiation stress gradients, and enhancement of the bed shear stress. Each of these mechanisms is discussed. Forcing from radiation stress gradients is shown to be the dominant mechanism affecting the flow conditions at the sites considered, primarily caused by dissipation of wave energy due to white-capping. Wave action is an important consideration at tidal energy sites. Although the net impact on the flow power was found to be small for the present sites, the effect is site specific and may be significant at sites with large wave exposure or strong asymmetry in the flow conditions and should thus be considered for detailed resource and engineering assessments.


2021 ◽  
Vol 62 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulrich Mießner ◽  
Thorben Helmers ◽  
Ralph Lindken ◽  
Jerry Westerweel

Abstract In this study, we reconstruct the 3D pressure field and derive the 3D contributions of the energy dissipation from a 3D3C velocity field measurement of Taylor droplets moving in a horizontal microchannel ($$\rm Ca_c=0.0050$$ Ca c = 0.0050 , $$\rm Re_c=0.0519$$ Re c = 0.0519 , $$\rm Bo=0.0043$$ Bo = 0.0043 , $$\lambda =\tfrac{\eta _{d}}{\eta _{c}}=2.625$$ λ = η d η c = 2.625 ). We divide the pressure field in a wall-proximate part and a core-flow to describe the phenomenology. At the wall, the pressure decreases expectedly in downstream direction. In contrast, we find a reversed pressure gradient in the core of the flow that drives the bypass flow of continuous phase through the corners (gutters) and causes the Taylor droplet’s relative velocity between the faster droplet flow and the slower mean flow. Based on the pressure field, we quantify the driving pressure gradient of the bypass flow and verify a simple estimation method: the geometry of the gutter entrances delivers a Laplace pressure difference. As a direct measure for the viscous dissipation, we calculate the 3D distribution of work done on the flow elements, that is necessary to maintain the stationarity of the Taylor flow. The spatial integration of this distribution provides the overall dissipated energy and allows to identify and quantify different contributions from the individual fluid phases, from the wall-proximate layer and from the flow redirection due to presence of the droplet interface. For the first time, we provide deep insight into the 3D pressure field and the distribution of the energy dissipation in the Taylor flow based on experimentally acquired 3D3C velocity data. We provide the 3D pressure field of and the 3D distribution of work as supplementary material to enable a benchmark for CFD and numerical simulations. Graphical abstract


2011 ◽  
Vol 137 (9) ◽  
pp. 1089-1093 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gonzalo Simarro ◽  
Cristina M. S. Fael ◽  
António H. Cardoso

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