Simulation of Turbulent Flow Around Tandem Piers

Scour is the most common cause of bridge failures. Estimations of the maximum possible scour depth around a bridge pier with semi-empirical equations are not reliable. To solve this problem, obtaining an understanding of the causes of erosion is imperative. One suggested way is studying complex flow fields of erosion mechanisms. In this study, a numerical simulation of turbulent flow around bridge pier groups is presented using the computational fluid dynamics method. Re-normalization group (RNG) and k - epsilon turbulence models are used to simulate the flow around tandem piers. Both studies are conducted over the rigid bed without scour holes. The simulation of velocities and streamlines around the tandem piers using RNG k - epsilon model is closer to the experimental results than the k - epsilon model to experimental results. The simulated data also agreed well with the real data. Results show the high capability of the simulated model in predicting flow fields around tandem piers.