Experimental Study of Local Scour Around Two Compound Piles in Tandem, Side-by-Side and Staggered Arrangements Under Steady Current

Adnan, Muhammad; Zhao, Ming; Wu, Helen; Munir, Adnan; Dhamelia, Vatsal

doi:10.3390/jmse14010027

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Experimental Study of Local Scour Around Two Compound Piles in Tandem, Side-by-Side and Staggered Arrangements Under Steady Current

by

Muhammad Adnan

,

Ming Zhao

^*

,

Helen Wu

,

Adnan Munir

and

Vatsal Dhamelia

School of Engineering, Design and Built Environment, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW 2751, Australia

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2026, 14(1), 27; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse14010027

Submission received: 23 November 2025 / Revised: 14 December 2025 / Accepted: 18 December 2025 / Published: 23 December 2025

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wave–Structure–Seabed Interaction)

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Abstract

Scour around two compound piles (CPs) in tandem, side-by-side (SBS), and staggered arrangements is investigated through experiments. Each CP has a larger diameter foundation, which is partially buried, and a smaller diameter top part with a diameter ratio of 0.5. The exposed height of the foundation is equal to its diameter. Experiments are conducted for gap ratios from 1 to 3. Due to the shadowing effect from the upstream CP, the downstream CP in the tandem arrangement has shallower scour depth and its most downstream point has deposition at an early stage. In the SBS arrangement, the scour does not have much difference from that of a single CP, but the inner side of each CP has a slightly deeper scour hole than the outer side of each CP and scour hole became independent at gap ratio of 3. In the staggered arrangement, the shadowing effect from the upstream CP was experienced by the downstream CP when G/D = 1, but not 1.5 and 3.

Keywords: scour; steady current; piles; experimental study; sediment transport

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MDPI and ACS Style

Adnan, M.; Zhao, M.; Wu, H.; Munir, A.; Dhamelia, V. Experimental Study of Local Scour Around Two Compound Piles in Tandem, Side-by-Side and Staggered Arrangements Under Steady Current. J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2026, 14, 27. https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse14010027

AMA Style

Adnan M, Zhao M, Wu H, Munir A, Dhamelia V. Experimental Study of Local Scour Around Two Compound Piles in Tandem, Side-by-Side and Staggered Arrangements Under Steady Current. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering. 2026; 14(1):27. https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse14010027

Chicago/Turabian Style

Adnan, Muhammad, Ming Zhao, Helen Wu, Adnan Munir, and Vatsal Dhamelia. 2026. "Experimental Study of Local Scour Around Two Compound Piles in Tandem, Side-by-Side and Staggered Arrangements Under Steady Current" Journal of Marine Science and Engineering 14, no. 1: 27. https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse14010027

APA Style

Adnan, M., Zhao, M., Wu, H., Munir, A., & Dhamelia, V. (2026). Experimental Study of Local Scour Around Two Compound Piles in Tandem, Side-by-Side and Staggered Arrangements Under Steady Current. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, 14(1), 27. https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse14010027

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Experimental Study of Local Scour Around Two Compound Piles in Tandem, Side-by-Side and Staggered Arrangements Under Steady Current

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