13Offshore Gravity Base Foundations (GBFs) are often designed with complex geometries. Such structures 14 interact with the local hydrodynamics, creating an adverse pressure gradient which is responsible for flow and 15 scour phenomena including the bed shear stress amplification. In this study a method is presented for predicting 16 clearwater scour around cylindrical structures with non-uniform geometries under the forcing of a unidirectional 17 current. The interaction of the flow field with the sediment around these complex structures is described in terms 18 of non-dimensional parameters that characterize the similitude of water-sediment movement. The paper presents 19 insights to the influence the streamwise depth-averaged Euler number has on the equilibrium scour around 20 uniform and non-uniform cylindrical structures. Here the Euler number is based on the depth-averaged streamwise 21 pressure gradient (calculated using potential flow theory), the mean flow velocity and the fluid density. 22Following a dimensional analysis, the controlling parameters were found to be the Euler number, pile 23Reynolds number, Froude number, sediment mobility number and the non-dimensional flow depth. Based on this 24 finding a new scour prediction equation was developed. This new method shows good agreement with the database 25 of scour depths acquired in this study ( 2 = 0.91). Measurements of the equilibrium scour depth around non-26

Offshore gravity foundations are often designed with complex geometries. Such structures interact with the local hydrodynamics and generate enhanced bed shear stresses and flow turbulence capable of scouring the seabed or destabilizing bed armour where deployed. In the present study a novel bed shear stress measurement method has been developed from the camera and laser components of a Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) system. The bed shear stress amplification was mapped out around six models of gravity foundations with different geometries. Tests were repeated for two bed roughness conditions. The structures tested included uniform cylinders, cylindrical base structures and conical base structures. The flow field around the models was also measured using PIV. The results of this study reveal that the conical base structures generate a different hydrodynamic response compared to the other structures. For uniform cylinders the maximum bed shear stress amplification occurs upstream, at an angle of 45° relative to the flow direction, and measurements were found to agree well with numerical results obtained by Roulund et al. (2005). In the case of the cylindrical base structure the maximum amplification occurs upstream at a similar location to the uniform cylinder case. For the conical base structures the maximum amplification of the bed shear stress occurs on the lee side of the structure, with the magnitude dependent on the side slope of the cone. The bed shear stress results were validated against stresses derived from analysis of the flow fields obtained by the PIV measurements performed under the same test conditions. Conclusions from the study are that the structure with the cylindrical base foundation produces the lowest bed shear stress amplification and that an increase in the bed roughness results in an increase in the amplification of the bed shear stress. These findings have direct implications for design of scour protection. In addition the flow reattachment point behind the foundation is dependent on pile Reynolds number (ReD). This suggests that the results of this study may be extrapolated for higher pile Reynolds using the method described in Roulund et al. (2006).

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.

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Submerged water jet causing soil excavation is a typical water-soil interaction process that occurs widely in many engineering disciplines. In hydraulic engineering for instance, a typical example would be scour downstream of headcuts, culverts, or dam spillways. In port and waterway engineering, erosion of the channel bed or quay wall by the propellers of passing ships are also typical water jet/soil interaction problems. In ocean engineering, trenching by impinging high-velocity water jets has been used as an efficient method for cable and pipeline burial. At present, physical modelling and simple prediction equations have been the main practical engineering tool for evaluating scour in these situations. However, with the increasing computational power of modern computers and the development of new Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) solvers, scour prediction in such engineering problems has become possible. In the present work three-dimensional (3D) numerical modelling has been applied to reproduce the capability of a pair of water jets to backfill an excavated trench. The simulations are carried out using a state-of-the-art three-dimensional Eulerian two-phase scour model based on the open source CFD software OpenFOAM. The fluid phase is resolved by solving modified Navier-Stokes equations, which take into consideration the influence of the solid phase, i.e., the soil particles. This paper first presents a validation of the numerical model against vertical jet erosion tests from the literature and conducted at HR Wallingford. The results of the model show good agreement with the experimental tests, with the numerical model predicting the scour hole depth and extent with good accuracy. The paper then presents a validation of the model’s ability to reproduce deposition which is evaluated through a comparison with settling velocity data and empirical formulations found in literature, again with the model showing good agreement. Finally, the model is applied to a prototype cable burial problem using a commercially available controlled flow jet excavator. The study found that the use of water jets can be effective (subject to confirmation of the time-scale required for real operations) for performing backfill operations but that the effectiveness is closely related to the type of sediment and selection of an appropriate jet discharge. As a result, in order for the water jet method to be effective for backfill, there is a requirement for a good description of the variation in sediment type along the trench and a requirement for the jet discharge to be varied as different sediment types are encountered.