Hydraulics Engineering 2019

FINAL EXPERIMENT
TITLE: “Determination of Flow Pattern Structure around Cylindrical Bridge Piers with a
submerged Prism”
Abstract:

Scour around a bridge pier (cylinder) is the biggest cause of bridge failure that can
possibly cost loss of lives. This is also a major factor that contributes to the total
construction and maintenance costs of bridges. For these reasons, it is essential to predict
the amount of scour anticipated at a bridge crossing during the design considering the flow
pattern or structure of water where this pier will be build. In order to decrease the potential
of pier-scour failure, the researcher proposed a prism submerged with the cylindrical bridge
pier which was examined in a comprehensive experimental program to find out if this can
reduce the maximum scour depth and scour-hole volume. In this study, the Flow Pattern
Structure of the submerged prism will be shown through Open-Foam CFD (Computational
Fluids Dynamics) and analyzed with proper computation. The components were measured
in four different cases, a single circular pier with and without the submerged prism and with
the high and low tide condition of water. Analysis of the results indicated that the proposed
prism could change the flow structure at the upstream and downstream of the pier. Analysis
of the results indicated that the proposed prism could change the flow structure at the
upstream and downstream of the pier. In fact, this submerged prism formed a wake region
behind itself where the bridge pier is located. The produced wake resisted the down-flow at
the upstream side of the pier and also disturbed the formation of the horseshoe vortices
around the pier. Consequently, the pier-scour was significantly reduced by the substantial
changes in the flow structure.

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