The Effect of Pipeline Arrangement on Velocity Field and Scouring Process

Abstract

This experimental study investigates the effect of changes in the arrangement of horizontal pipelines on changes in the velocity pattern in three dimensions and the scouring process around these submarine pipelines. Experiments have been carried out in four cases: single pipe, two pipes with a distance of 0.5 D, two pipes with a distance of D, and three pipes with a distance of 0.5 D (D is the diameter of the pipes). The velocity upstream, downstream, and on the pipes have been measured by the Acoustic Doppler Velocimeter (ADV). The results show that a single pipe’s scouring depth in the first case is more significant than in the other cases. In the second case, the presence of the second pipe at a distance of 0.5 D from the first pipe significantly reduced the scour depth (28.6%) compared to the single pipe condition by changing the velocity pattern around the pipelines. By increasing the number of pipes to 3 with a distance of 0.5 D, this reduction in scouring depth has reached 47.6% compared to the single pipe condition. However, in the case of two pipes with a distance of D, the reduction of scouring depth was 21.4% compared to the case of a single pipe, and compared to the case of two pipes with a distance of 0.5 D, it increased by 10%.