Bending behavior of inflatable structures filled with hydrogel beads

Abstract

In the increasing exploration of marine resources, underwater deformable structures are also being increasingly applied, we propose underwater straight tube deformable structures based on hydrogel beads. By bending experiments, the strength of the structural elements is studied, and the relationship between stiffness of the straight tube deformable structure and the initial mass of the hydrogel beads is established. From this, through the stiffness conditions of flexible sacrificial piles under submerged conditions determined by theoretical derivation, the specifications of flexible sacrificial pile for indoor test is successfully selected. In the pier scouring test, the protective effect between flexible and rigid sacrificial piles is compared, and flexible sacrificial piles can get better protection performance than rigid sacrificial piles.