Local scour in waterway docks / SCAVI LOCALIZZATI AGLI ATTRACCHI IN CORSI D’ACQUA NAVIGABILI

The investigation of flow intensity is crucial in understanding the ship propeller jet scouring process in ship manoeuvring areas, waterways path, and navigation channels. Although still water conditions are often used in studies, they do not accurately represent real‐life scenarios. This study presents an experimental campaign to explore the effects of flow intensity on the propeller jet and related scour, testing three flow intensities combined with different propeller submergence depths. The results include longitudinal and cross‐sectional scoured bed profiles and empirical equations to compute the main scour hole dimensions. Additionally, simulations of the Reynolds‐Averaged Navier–Stokes Equations (RANSE) were performed on the three‐dimensional (3D) bed surface topography, providing valuable insights into the characteristics of propeller jets with and without an incoming flow.