TY  - JOUR
AU  - Gong, En-yu
AU  - Chen, Song-gui
AU  - Chen, Xin
AU  - Guan, Da-wei
AU  - Zheng, Jin-hai
PY  - 2025
TI  - Large-scale experimental study on scour around both slender and large monopiles under irregular waves
JO  - Water Science and Engineering
SN  - 1674-2370
SP  - 369
EP  - 377
VL  - 18
IS  - 3
AB  - Offshore wind power plays a crucial role in energy strategies. The results of traditional small-scale physical models may be unreliable when extrapolated to large field scales. This study addressed this limitation by conducting large-scale (1:13) experiments to investigate the scour hole pattern and equilibrium scour depth around both slender and large monopiles under irregular waves. The experiments adopted Keulegan—Carpenter number (NKC) values from 1.01 to 8.89 and diffraction parameter (D/L, where D is the diameter of the monopile, and L is the wave length) values from 0.016 to 0.056. The results showed that changes in the maximum scour location and scour hole shape around a slender monopile were associated with NKC, with differences observed between irregular and regular waves. Improving the calculation of NKC enhanced the accuracy of existing scour formulae under irregular waves. The maximum scour locations around a large monopile were consistently found on both sides, regardless of NKC and D/L, but the scour hole topography was influenced by both parameters. Notably, the scour range around a large monopile was at least as large as the monopile diameter.
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wse.2025.05.001
DO  - 10.1016/j.wse.2025.05.001