Research on Seabed Erosion Monitoring Technology of Offshore Structures Based on the Principle of Heat Transfer

Abstract

The erosion of the seabed around offshore structures has emerged as a critical factor impeding the operational safety of offshore engineering facilities. Prompt and precise identification and monitoring of the water–soil interface hold significant importance in mitigating the seabed erosion challenges facing offshore structures. To tackle this issue, a monitoring framework for the water–soil interface is proposed, grounded in heat transport theory. This framework exploits the thermodynamic variances between seawater and the seabed soil to examine the temperature changes in linear heat sources in water and soil under a constant power. In this study, a typical metallic material—iron (Fe)—and non-metallic material—polyvinyl chloride (PVC)—are considered the linear heat sources, and their temperature variations are analyzed within this framework. The findings reveal that the temperature of the linear heat sources rapidly stabilizes, with the ultimate temperature exhibiting a logarithmic correlation with the convective heat transfer coefficient. To further test the practicability of the framework, an indoor test is conducted. The errors between the theoretical calculation results and the experimental results are less than 14% in water and 19% in soil. The results of the framework and the indoor test have a high degree of coincidence. This framework has proved that it can be used in practical engineering.