Scale Model Experiment on Local Scour around Submarine Pipelines under Bidirectional Tidal Currents

Abstract

In nearshore regions, bidirectional tidal flow is the main hydrodynamic factor, which induces local scour around submarine pipelines. So far, most studies on scour around submarine pipelines only consider the action of unidirectional, steady currents and little attention has been paid to the situation of bidirectional tidal currents. To deeply understand scour characteristics and produce a more accurate prediction method in bidirectional tidal currents for engineering application, a series of laboratory scale experiments were conducted in a bidirectional current flume. The experiments were carried out at a length scale of 1:20 and the tidal currents were scaled with field measurements from Cezhen pipeline in Hangzhou Bay, China. The experimental results showed that under bidirectional tidal currents, the scour depth increased significantly during the first half of the tidal cycle and it only increased slightly when the flow of the tidal velocity was near maximum flood or ebb in the following tidal cycle. Compared with scour under a unidirectional steady current, the scour profile under a bidirectional tidal current was more symmetrical, and the scour depth in a bidirectional tidal current was on average 80% of that under a unidirectional, steady current based on maximum peak velocity. Based on previous research and the present experimental data, a more accurate fitted equation to predict the tidally induced live-bed scour depth around submarine pipelines was proposed and has been verified using field data from the Cezhen pipeline.