Experimental and Numerical Investigation of the Bed Erosion around Bridge Piers with Different Cross-Sections

In present study, the effect of different cross-sections of bridge piers on reducing the bed erosion and the bed shear stress was experimentally and numerically evaluated. In experimental study, the bed erosion and the percentage of its resuction was calculated;also numerically, the flow around pier models was simulated three dimensionally, and the effect of each cross-section on reduction of bed shear stress was investigated. To determine the efficiency of suggested models, the circular model was selected as the reference model and the decreasing of maximum shear stresses in each model was compared with the decreased scour depth. Comparison of the velocity and water free surface profiles was conducted for verification of turbulence models and results showed that with model, more accuracy can be obtained. Among the presented models, the A2 model with decreasing scouring depth of 72 percent as copared to the refference model, was found to be best and most effective model. Also the B2 model lead to 8 percent reduction in scouring depth and can be suggested as a model that has the least effect on scouring. The D model causes the scouring depth increase by 7 percent relative to the reference model. Comparison of the numerical and experimental results was another objective of this study due to the complexities of experimental researches. The results showed that there are direct relationship between the bed shear stress and the equilibrium scour depths.