In this paper, the results of a series of experiments on wave-induced pore-water pressures around a mono-pile are presented. Unlike the previous study, in which the mono-pile was fully buried, the mono-pile in this study was installed at 0.6 m below the seabed surface. In this study, we focus on the pore-water pressures around the mono-pile and beneath the pile. The experimental results lead to the following conclusions: (1) the seabed response is more pronounced near the surface (in the region above 30 cm deep), and the rate of pore pressure attenuation gradually slows down. For the region below 0.3 m, the response is much smaller; (2) in general, along the surface of the pile, pore pressures increase as the wave height and wave period increase; (3) the spatial distribution of pore pressure near the pile will vary with different wave periods, while the wave height only has a significant effect on the amplitude; and (4) At z = −0.15 m, the pore pressure in front of the pile is the largest, while at the point 0.1 m below the bottom of the pile, the largest pore pressure occurs behind the pile.

Pipelines have been used as one of the main transportation methods for the offshore industry, with increasing activities in marine resources recently. Prediction of seabed instability is one of key factors that must be taken into consideration for an offshore pipeline project. As the first step of the scour process, sediment incipient motion has been intensively studied in the past. Most previous investigations didn’t consider the wave-induced seepage in the elevation of sediment motion. In this paper, two-dimensional seepage was considered to modify the conventional Shields number and its associated impact on sediment incipient motion around the trenched pipeline was investigated. Both flat and sloping seabeds are considered. The numerical results indicated that a peak or valley of the modified Shields number was formed below the pipeline and horizontal seepage flow tremendously impact the sediment motion in the vicinity of the pipeline. Parametric analysis concludes: the influence of the seepage around the pipeline becomes more significant in a large wave, shallow water in a seabed with large shear modulus and permeability, and larger pipeline diameter and smaller flow gap ratio. This will make soil particles be more easily dragged away from the seabed.

Although twin pipelines in series have been used to transport hydrocarbons in engineering practice, most previous studies focused on the dynamic response of the seabed around a single pipeline. A two-way coupling model of fluid–structure–seabed interaction (FSSI) is proposed for the study of the soil response and liquefaction caused by waves and currents around twin pipelines. The present model integrates the flow model and the seabed model by introducing a boundary condition of velocity continuity in addition to the continuity of pressures at the seabed surface. Then, the inconsistency between the physical process and numerical simulation can be overcome in the one-way coupling model. Through a series of numerical simulations, the influence of different flow characteristics, soil properties, and pipeline configurations on the seabed response under the two-way coupling process were explored, and compared with the results of the single pipeline. The numerical results indicate that the twin pipeline configuration significantly alters the relevant responses compared to the single pipeline configuration, including the after-consolidation state, amplitude of velocity at the seabed surface, and distribution of pore pressure in the seabed. The parametric studies show that the amplitudes of the wave and current have significant impacts on the distribution of pore pressure in the seabed. The pore pressure in the seabed increases with the increase of forward wave current, while the results of reverse wave current are the opposite. In addition, the liquefaction range around the pipeline increases with the increase of $H_w$ and $T_w$, and increases with the decrease of $S_r$ and $k_s$. At the same time, the gaps (G) and the ratio of pipe radius ($R_1/R_2$) between the twin pipelines also significantly affect the seabed response and liquefaction distribution around the pipeline.