Experimental study on local scour depth around pile groups

Abstract

An accurate prediction of local scour depth at piles is essential for bridge safety. In order to obtain the prediction formula of local scour around pile groups, a series of local scour experiments of pile groups were carried out. The results show that the scouring depth decreases along the flow direction and the deepest scouring occurs in the first row of the upstream surface. The local scour depth of the front row is greater than that of the single pile. According to the test data and previous data, a calculation coefficient of pile group scour depth with reasonable forms is introduced. The scour depth calculated by this coefficient is in good agreement with the measured value, which proves the rationality of the proposed coefficient.

Keywords

• Scour depth
• Flume test
• Pile group