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Streamlining of Bridge Pier as a Scour Countermeasure: A Feasibility Study

Authors :
Xiong Bill Yu
Junliang Tao
Junhong Li
Source :
IFCEE 2015.
Publication Year :
2015
Publisher :
American Society of Civil Engineers, 2015.

Abstract

Scour around bridge pier is known as one of the most critical causes to bridge failure. Countermeasures suggested by HEC-23 (2009) include riprap, gabions, spurs, guide banks, and so on. The principals of these countermeasures are either mechanically stabilizing the channel bed surface to prevent the development of the scour hole, or reducing the vortex intensity. Streamlining of the piers is a potentially feasible countermeasure to bridge scour by reducing the vortex strength. In this paper, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) models are developed to evaluate the feasibility of streamlining as a countermeasure. Five test cases with different streamlining features are systematically analyzed and compared. It is found that the vertical profile of the pier nose and sidewalls has significant effects on the development of vortex structures around piers. Streamlined pier nose and sidewalls help reduce the downward flow in front of the piers, the vortex extent around the pier and the bed shear stress intensity. If the pier is not aligned with the incoming flow, however, the effectiveness of streamlining as a scour countermeasure may be highly compromised.

Details

Database :
OpenAIRE
Journal :
IFCEE 2015
Accession number :
edsair.doi...........5be2094995a7e087a1b3fb9d4a7fd20c
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784479087.032