Effects of seabed geotechnical properties on scour mechanism at the pile in non-cohesive soils: Experimental study

Abstract

The influence of the seabed geotechnical properties on the scour development mechanism of the pile is ignored in the majority of the studies, which leads to a low accuracy of the scour depth prediction equation. This paper presents an experimental study on scour of the pile in sand with different seabed geotechnical properties (i.e. the friction angle, the density and the seepage force of the sand). The seabed stress equation, scour mechanism and scour depth prediction equation of the pile are found. The pile scour depth decreases with an increase in the relative densities of sand. The sand friction angle is the main micro parameter of the scour mechanism, and the seabed stress has a positive correlation with the relative density of sand. The seepage force of the sand has little effect on the scour depth of the pile. A scour protection method regarding reducing the scour depths of the pile by increasing the sand density is given. Finally, the effect of seabed consolidation on the scour depth of the pile is discussed.