Experimental study of vortex-induced vibrations of a pipeline near an erodible sandy seabed

Based on similarity analyses, a series of experiments have been conducted with a newly established hydro-elastic facility to investigate the transverse vortex-induced vibrations (VIVs) of a submarine pipeline near an erodible sandy seabed under the influence of ocean currents. Typical characteristics of coupling processes between pipe vibration and soil scour in the currents have been summarized for Case I: pipe is laid above seabed and Case II: pipe is partially embedded in seabed on the basis of the experimental observations. Pipe vibration and the corresponding local scour are usually two coupled physical processes leading to an equilibrium state. The influence of initial gap-to-diameter ratio (e₀/D) on the interaction between pipe vibration and local scour has been studied. Experimental results show that the critical values of V_r for the initiation of VIVs of the pipe near an erodible sand bed get bigger with decreasing initial gap-to-diameter ratio within the examined range of e₀/D (−0.25<e₀/D<0.75). The comparison of the pipe vibrations near an erodible soil with those near a rigid boundary and under wall-free conditions indicates that the vibration amplitudes of the pipe near an erodible sand bed are close to the curve fit under wall-free conditions; nevertheless, for the same stability parameter, the maximum amplitudes for the VIV coupled with local scour increase with the increase of initial gap-to-diameter ratio.