E F F E C T O F SPOILERS ON SCOUR AT

SUBMARINE PIPELINES

By Yee-Meng Chiew,1 Member, ASCE

INTRODUCTION
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Submarine pipelines have been used extensively to transport hydrocarbon

and utilities across a stretch of water. It is customary to bury the pipelines
to protect them from possible damage caused by waves, currents, and anchor
dropping or dragging. The cost of trenching and refilling the pipelines is
high, and expenditure on pipeline burial often accounts for a large propor-
tion of the total budget of the project.
Recent investigations (Hulsbergen 1984, 1986; Hulsbergen and Bijker
1989) showed that a pipeline placed on a noncohesive sand bed can bury
itself under two to three pipe diameters of material, under certain circum-
stances. If this self-burial potential can be exploited, the potential cost
savings on laying submarine pipelines can be very considerable. The process
of self-burial of submarine pipelines begins with the scour of bed material
around the pipeline. Scouring needs, therefore, to be enhanced in order to
encourage self-burial of the pipeline. The objective of this study is to in-
vestigate the effect of placing spoilers on the pipelines to increase scouring,
thereby stimulating the self-burial process.

REVIEW OF PREVIOUS INVESTIGATIONS

Under a steady current, a scour hole will form around an exposed sub-
marine pipeline, beginning with the formation of a tunnel directly under-
neath the pipe. Recent studies (Mao 1986; Chiew 1990) showed that the
initiation of tunnel scour is closely related to piping. With the formation of
the tunnel, the incoming flow divides into two components, flowing over
and under the pipe, respectively. The flow through the tunnel is primarily
responsible for the erosion of material and the formation of the scour hole
beneath the pipe. Based on an experimental study, Chiew (1991a,b) found
that the equilibrium depth of scour is a function of the amount of flow
through the tunnel. He showed that a large yJD ratio leads to a small
amount of flow through the tunnel beneath the pipe, hence the formation
of a shallow scour depth, and vice-versa.

EXPERIMENTAL SETUP

The experiments in this study were conducted in a glass-sided flume that

was 8 m long, 0.3 m wide, and 0.45 m deep. Two different-sized spoilers,
with depth, 8, equal, respectively, to half and a quarter of the diameter of
the pipe, were used in the study. The pipe, with a diameter of 48 mm, was
*Sr. Lect., School of Civ. and Struct. Engrg., Nanyang Tech. Univ., Nanyang
Ave., Singapore 2263.
Note. Discussion open until February 1, 1993. To extend the closing date one
month, a written request must be filed with the ASCE Manager of Journals. The
manuscript for this paper was submitted for review and possible publication on
September 6, 1991. This paper is part of the Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, Vol.
118, No. 9, September, 1992. ©ASCE, ISSN 0733-9429/92/0009-1311/$1.00 + $.15
per page. Paper No. 2570.
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 fixed at both ends to the flume. The spoiler also extends the entire width
of the flume. The cylinder-spoiler configuration can be rotated about the
vertical axis of the pipe so that the angle, a, between the spoiler and the
vertical axis can be varied. Different values of a, ranging from 0-180°, were
used in the experiment. Fig. 1 shows the layout of the pipeline-spoiler
configuration.
All the experiments were tested in a uniform flow with an undisturbed
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approach flow depth, y0, of 180 mm. The bed material consists of a uniform,
cohesionless sediment with a mean grain size of 0.3 mm and geometric
standard deviation of 1.34. The underside of the cylinder was just touching
the sediment bed at the commencement of the test. For all the experiments,
the undisturbed applied shear stress was kept constant, at 0.95 times the
critical shear velocity of the bed sediment.
The scour depth, measured from the underside of the pipe, was monitored
at regular intervals until the formation of the equilibrium scour hole. Equi-
librium is assumed to have been reached when less than 1 mm in changes
to the scour depth occurs within an eight-hour duration. Typically, a scour
hole takes approximately 72 hours to reach equilibrium. During the exper-
iment, dyes were introduced at strategic locations to investigate changes of
the flow pattern around the pipe caused by the spoiler.

EFFECT OF SPOILERS ON SCOUR AT SUBMARINE PIPELINES

A circular cross section has long been recognized as a very efficient section
for the transport of fluids. However, it does not imply that the same cross
section is suitable for stimulating self-burial of submarine pipelines. To
enhance the self-burial capacity, it is necessary to provide a cross section,
which will encourage scour around the pipe. This may be achieved by at-
taching spoilers on the surface of a circular pipe to increase the rate and
amount of erosion around the pipeline. The position of the spoilers in
relation to the direction of the approach flow is an important parameter
that needs to be considered.
A spoiler on the surface of a circular pipe can affect the scouring process
in the following manners.

Vertical axis of pipe

Flow direction

FIG. 1. Layout of Pipe-Spoiler Configuration

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 1. Increasing the blockage ratio of the flow.
2. Altering the flow pattern around the pipe.
Depending on the orientation of the spoiler, the spoiler can effectively
reduces the yJD ratio. This influence is most important if the spoiler lies
in the first quadrant ( 0 ° s a < 90°). Table 1, which contains the experimental
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results of the equilibrium scour depth for different spoiler lengths and lo-
cation, clearly shows a marked increase in the equilibrium scour depth when
a lies between 0° and 90°. For example, when the spoiler is attached directly
above the pipeline (i.e., a = 0°), the equilibrium scour depth increases by
39% and 46% for 8/D ratio equal to 0.25 and 0.5, respectively. The deeper
scour depth is caused by the increase of the deflected flow toward the bottom
of the pipe.
Close examination shows that the scour depth associated with a pipe-
spoiler configuration is even deeper than that associated with a pipeline
with the same equivalent diameter. The reason is that a spoiler attachment
located directly above the pipe is more effective in blocking the flow from
flowing over the pipe than that with the same effective diameter.
This phenomenon is substantiated from observation of dyes injected around
the pipeline. Flow visualization using dyes around a pipeline with a spoiler
attached directly above the pipeline (a = 0°, 8/D = 0.5) shows that the
separation point occurs at the top of the cylinder, which is approximately
two to three times the entire depth of the pipe-spoiler configuration. Without
the spoiler, observation shows that the separation occurs at the horizontal
axis of a cylindrical pipe. This observation implies that more flow has been
deflected downward through the tunnel as a result of the projection of the
spoiler above the pipeline, leading to formation of a deeper scour depth.

TABLE 1. Effect of Spoilers on Equilibrium Scour Depth

Depth of spoiler a Scour depth
(mm) 0 (mm)
(1) (2) (3)
0 0 56
12 0 78
(1/4D) 50 62
90 52
105 51
120 58
130 76
140 0
150 0
180 0
24 0 82
(1/2D) 40 67
50 57
90 51
105 47
120 90
130 0
140 0
150 0
180 0

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 Besides increasing the tunnel scour depth, the spoiler also increases the
extent of lee erosion. Lee erosion occurs at the downstream side of the
pipe, and is primarily caused by the reemergence of the main flow over and
the turbulent wake downstream of the pipe. Because of the presence of the
spoiler above the pipeline, the flow separates at the upper edge of the spoiler
and reattaches farther downstream, extending the lee erosion beyond that
associated with a pipe without the spoiler. Under a steady current, the
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maximum equilibrium scour depth around a submarine pipeline is approx-

imately one diameter deep. Hulsbergen (1984) attributed the reason that a
submarine pipeline is capable of burying itself down to two-three pipe
diameters deep to the formation of lee erosion. Under an alternating tidal
current, lee erosion will occur on both sides of the pipeline, producing a
double scour pit with the pipeline located on a ridge sandwiched between
these two scour pits (see Fig. 2). The exposure of the pipeline will eventually
cause the pipe to fall into the pit, either by sliding down one of the slopes
or due to the collapse of the sand ridge supporting the pipe. The increase
in lee erosion caused by the spoiler will further enhance the self-burial
potential of the pipeline.
As a increases, the blockage effect decreases because the projected area
of the spoiler reduces, i.e., the effective diameter decreases. The results in
Table 1 show that the increase in scour depth decreases as a increases. A
limiting condition for the effect of spoilers occurs when a approaches 90°.
Under this condition, the spoiler is parallel to the streamlines of the incoming
flow, and thus fails to create an effective blockage to the flow. Here, it only
effects the formation of a boundary layer as the flow approaches the pipeline.
The boundary layer retards the flow, leading to the formation of a lesser
scour depth than that of a pipeline with no spoiler attached.
The trend of decreasing scour depth for increasing a values reverses as
a approaches 120-130°. For the given geometry of the pipe-spoiler system,
the spoiler just touches the sediment bed at 132° for 8/Z> = 0.25. The same

FIG. 2. Schematic Representation of Lee Erosion

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 ^ V e r t i c a l axis of pipe
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FIG. 3. Flow Pattern around Pipeline-Spoiler System (a = 120°, 8/£> = 0.5)

TABLE 2. Comparison between Scour Depth of 50-mm-Diameter Half-Buried and

25-mm-Diameter Exposed Pipe
Scour Depth (mm) Measured from Mean
Bed Level
50-mm 25-mm
half-buried exposed y» Velocity
pipe pipe (nim) (m/s)
0) (2) (3) (4)
70 34 75 0.37
63 31 100 0.37
53 23 125 0.37
49 18 150 0.37
40 13 200 0.37

occurs for b/D = 0.5 when a = 120°. Table 1 shows that when a exceeds
the two limiting conditions for 8/D = 0.25 and 0.5, respectively, no tunnel
scour occurs. This is because the onset of tunnel scour is related to piping
of the bed sediment around the pipeline. As was discussed in Chiew (1990),
the onset of tunnel scour occurs only if pressure gradient across the pipe
exceeds the flotation gradient of the bed sediment. When the spoiler pro-
trudes into the sediment bed, it effectively lengthens the streamline, thereby
reducing the pressure gradient across the pipeline. This reduction prevents
the occurrence of piping, and hence, the onset of tunnel scour.
The data in Table 1 show the formation of a deep scour hole when the
spoiler is just touching the undisturbed mean bed level at the commencement
of the experiment. The orientation of the spoiler causes two important
influences on the flow, leading to changes in the scour depth.
First, the spoiler causes the flow to separate at its tip and reattach farther
downstream, extending beyond the pipeline. This phenomenon is similar to
the flow separation and generation of vortices over the top of the pipeline,
which is primarily responsible for the formation of lee erosion. Fig. 3 shows
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 the flow pattern around the pipeline when a half-diameter-deep spoiler is
attached at a = 120° to the pipeline (pipe just touches the sediment bed).
The formation of a wake beneath the pipe effectively increases the size of
the pipeline. This phenomenon is analogous to the case when a pipeline is
partially buried such that the pipe extends below the mean bed level of the
sediment. Table 2 contains the experimental data collected by Ibrahim (1986)
for the half-buried (D = 50 mm) and the 25-mm-diameter exposed pipe.
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It is necessary to compare data obtained from a 50-mm-diameter half-buried

pipe and the 25-mm-diameter exposed pipe in order to obtain the same
yaID ratio. The data in Table 2 clearly show that the scour depth associated
with the buried pipeline is significantly higher than those obtained from the
exposed pipe.

CONCLUSIONS

This study shows that a spoiler attached to a submarine pipeline is capable

of increasing the rate and extent of erosion around the pipe. The extent of
this increase is a function of the orientation of the spoiler. When the spoiler
is vertically above the pipeline, it creates a large blockage to the incoming
flow, which forces more of the flow downward beneath the pipe, thereby
resulting in an increase of the scour depth. The protrusion of the spoiler
above the pipe also increases the lee erosion downstream. This phenomenon
is important in the context of stimulation of the self-burial potential of the
pipeline, especially in conditions where an alternating tidal current is pres-
ent.
When the angle between the spoiler and vertical axis increases such that
the spoiler is just touching the sediment bed level, a very large scour hole
is formed. This is due to flow separation, which occurs at the tip of the
spoiler, and the formation of a wake beneath the pipe. This phenomenon
effectively increases the pipe size, resulting in an increased scour depth.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The writer wishes to express his sincere appreciation to Y. C. Lee for

collecting the experimental data. The project was financially supported by
an Applied Research Grant of the Nanyang Technological University.

APPENDIX I. REFERENCES

Chiew, Y. M. (1990). "Mechanics of local scour around submarine pipelines." /.

Hydr. Engrg., ASCE, 116(4), 515-529.
Chiew, Y. M. (1991a). "Flow around horizontal circular cylinder in shallow flows."
/. Wtrwy., Port, Coast, and Oc. Engrg., ASCE, 117(2), 120-135.
Chiew, Y. M. (1991b). "Prediction of maximum scour depth at submarine pipelines."
/. Hydr. Engrg., ASCE, 117(4), 452-466.
Hulsbergen, C. H. (1984). "Stimulated self-burial of submarine pipelines." Proc.
16th Offshore Tech. Conf., Houston, Texas, OTC 4667, 171-178.
Hulsbergen, C. H. (1986). "Spoilers for stimulated burial of submarine pipelines."
Proc. 18th Offshore Tech. Conf., Houston, Texas, OTC 5339, 441-444.
Hulsbergen, C. H., and Bijker, R. (1989). "Effect of spoilers on submarine pipelines
stability." Proc. 21st Offshore Tech. Conf., Houston, Texas, OTC 6154, 337-350.
Ibrahim, A. (1986). "Scour around pipeline under marine environments," Ph.D.
thesis, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, at Newcastle upon Tyne, England.
Mao, Y. (1986). "The interaction between a pipeline and an erodible bed." Series
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 Paper No. 39, Inst, of Hydrodyn. and Hydr. Engrg., Tech. Univ. of Denmark,
Lyngby, Denmark.

APPENDIX 11. NOTATION

The following symbols are used in this paper:

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D = pipe diameter;
y0 = undisturbed approach flow depth;
a = angle between spoiler and vertical axis of pipe; and
8 = depth of spoiler.

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