Erosion Stability of Wide-Graded Quarry-Stone Material under Unidirectional Current

Abstract

Scour protection around hydraulic structures in fluvial, estuarine, and coastal waters is an essential component of a meaningful and durable design. The continuous optimization of scour protection systems and design approaches leads to faster and more cost-effective construction processes. Although scour protection now often consists of a two-layer design, approaches that incorporate only one layer depict a major step forward. Therefore, this research focuses on the stability of a wide-graded quarry-stone mixture consisting of crushed granodiorite (Jelsa quarry, Norway) with fractions ranging from 0.063 to 200 mm. The material was exposed to an incrementally increased unidirectional current in a closed-circuit flume. The induced flow field and leading parameters were measured at various positions horizontally and vertically, whereas the erosion rates were determined behind the test bed specimen. With increasing flow velocity the development of a static armor layer was observed at the bed surface. Bed-shear stresses were determined to be strongly variable across the rough test bed. Fractional critical shear stresses indicate highly selective mobility of individual fractions. Least-square fitting of the determined critical shear stresses based on the dimensionless reference grain size d(i)/d(sigma) (with d(sigma) as the product of the geometric mean size d(g) and the geometric standard deviation sigma(g)) is suitable for describing the stability behavior of the investigated material.