Roughening Elements as Abutment Scour Countermeasures

Abstract

This paper presents the results of clear-water scour experiments with a vertical-wall abutment. The upstream face of the latter was provided with roughening elements as devices to intercept the downflow responsible for the formation of the principal vortex. The time evolution of the scour depth at several locations around the abutment was measured for different hydrodynamic and geometric configurations. The countermeasure performance was quantified using an appropriate dimensionless framework, and a best arrangement of the roughening elements was proposed within the range of the experimental conditions investigated. The full database is provided as supplemental material.