Volume-based assessment of erosion patterns around a hydrodynamic transparent offshore structure

Abstract

The present article presents results of a laboratory study on the assessment of erosion patterns around a hydrodynamic transparent offshore foundation exposed to combined waves and currents. The model tests were conducted under irregular, long-crested waves in a scale of 1:30 in a wave-current basin. A terrestrial 3D laser scanner was used to acquire data of the sediment surface around the foundation structure. Tests have been conducted systematically varying from wave- to current-dominated conditions. Different volume analyzing methods are introduced, which can be related for any offshore or coastal structure to disclose physical processes in complex erosion patterns. Empirical formulations are proposed for the quantification of spatially eroded sediment volumes and scour depths in the near-field and vicinity of the structure. Findings from the present study agree well with in-situ data stemming from the field. Contrasting spatial erosion development between experimental and in-situ data determines a stable maximum of erosion intensity at a distance of 1.25 A, 1.25 times the structure’s footprint A, as well as a global scour extent of 2.1–2.7 A within the present study and about 2.7–2.8 A from the field. By this means, a structure-induced environmental footprint as a measure for erosion of sediment affecting marine habitat is quantified.