Numerical Investigation of Flow in Porous Media Around a Mono-Pile Under Steady Current

The study numerically investigates the three-dimensional (3D) flow features around a mono-pile with scour protection under steady flow condition. A hydrodynamic model based on Volume-averaged Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (VARANS) equations with the Volume-averaged k-ω turbulence closure is developed, which is implemented in OpenFOAM. The numerical model is firstly verified against experiments and known analytical/empirical expressions by simulating simple turbulent flows. Under the steady current, a 3D model using a parabolic transition near the interface is validated against experimental measurements regarding the flow features both inside and outside of the scour protection around a mono-pile. The computed results are reasonably in line with the experiments. The simulations demonstrate the ability of the developed model to evaluate the flow behaviors in scour protection.