Experimental investigation of turbulent flows around high-rise structure foundations and implications on scour

Many studies have been undertaken to predict local scour around offshore high-rise structure foundations (HRSFs), which have been used in constructing the Donghai Wind Farm in China. However, there have been few works on the turbulent flow that drives the scour process. In this study, the characteristics of the turbulent flow fields around an HRSF were investigated using the particle image velocimetry technique. The mean flow, vorticity, and turbulence intensity were analyzed in detail. The relationship between the flow feature and scour development around an HRSF was elaborated. The results showed that the flow velocity increased to its maximum value near the third row of the pile group. The shear layer and wake vortices could not be fully developed downstream of the last row of the piles at small Reynolds numbers. The strong flow and turbulent fluctuation near the third piles explained the existence of a long-tail scour pattern starting from the HRSF shoulders and a trapezoidal deposition region directly downstream of HRSF. This laboratory experiment gains insight into the mechanism of the turbulent flow around HRSFs and provides a rare dataset for numerical model verifications.