fuzzy c-means clustering

Estimation and prediction of scouring around the piers play a significant role to design these structures since with increasing dimensions of scour hole, stability of the pier is threatened; as a result, the structure may be destructed. In this study, scour hole in the vicinity of twin and three piers is estimated by using fuzzy c-means clustering of ANFIS (ANFIS-FCM) network technique. To do this, firstly, the parameters affecting scour hole around twin and three piers including Froude number (Fr), the ratio of the pier diameter to the flow depth (D/h), and the ratio of the distance between the piers to the flow depth (d/h) were detected. Subsequently, seven ANFIS-FCM models were defined by means of these dimensional input parameters. It should be stated that 70% of the experimental data were utilized to training the models and 30% of the rest were applied to testing. Next, the superior ANFIS-FCM model and the most important input parameter were introduced by implementing a sensitivity analysis. The premium model as a function of all input parameters simulated the scour values with a reasonable accuracy. For instance, the correlation coefficient (R), the scatter index (SI), and the Nash-Sutcliff efficiency coefficient (NSC) are respectively computed to be 0.988, 0.106, and 0.976. Furthermore, the Froude number was considered as the most important input parameter. Lastly, a computer code was introduced so as to simulate the scour hole around the twin and three piers.