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Influence of Pier Shape and Interference Effect on Local Scour

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River Hydraulics

Part of the book series: Water Science and Technology Library ((WSTL,volume 110))

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Abstract

Scour around bridge piers is one of the main reasons for bridge failures. Previous researchers reported that pier shape is an important parameter since it affects the flow field and then scour formation. This study aims (i) to find the effect of pier shape on local scour in comparison with the circular pier shape and (ii) interference effect of different shaped piers placed in tandem arrangement on local scour. Experiments are conducted in a rectangular glass-walled flume with sand of d50 = 0.56 mm, under clear-water, and steady flow conditions. Two modified piers are prepared (P2 and P3) with the area equivalent to the area of the circular pier (P1). P1 is a circular pier with diameter D (=5 cm), P2 is a combination of semi-circle and triangle in which pier is oriented to flow direction in either ways (P2a and P2b), and P3 has a groove with projection on semi-circular face of P2. The results showed that compared to P1 the scour depth reduced by 23.5%, 50%, and 55% for P2a, P2b, and P3, respectively, thereby reducing the need for scour countermeasures. From the results of tandem arrangements, it is observed that P1 as front pier and P2a as a rear pier with a clear spacing of 1.0D and P3 as front pier and P1 as a rear pier with the clear spacing of 1.75D given less scour. These observations can be helpful to construct a new bridge adjacent to an existing bridge.

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Abbreviations

D :

Pier diameter (cm)

d 50 :

Mean size of bed material (mm)

d s :

Maximum scour depth measured below the bed level (cm)

d s /D :

Scour depth ratio

d sf /D :

Scour depth ratio for front pier

d sr /D :

Scour depth ratio for rear pier

Fr:

Froude number

Q:

Flow rate (L/s)

t :

Time of scour measurement (minutes)

T :

Total duration of experiment (minutes)

t/T :

Time scale ratio

V :

Maximum flow velocity (m/s)

V/V c :

Critical velocity ratio

V c :

Critical velocity (m/s)

X :

Clear spacing between two piers in tandem arrangement (cm)

X/D :

Non-dimensionalised clear spacing

Y :

Flow depth (cm)

σ g :

Geometric standard deviation of bed material

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Acknowledgements

We express our sincere thanks to the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) for funding this project work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Tamil Nadu, Chennai, 600036, India

    Siva Krishna Reddy, Sruthi Thazhathe Kalathil, Malasani Gopi Chand & Venu Chandra

Authors
  1. Siva Krishna Reddy
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  2. Sruthi Thazhathe Kalathil
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  3. Malasani Gopi Chand
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  4. Venu Chandra
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Venu Chandra .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Patna, India

    Ramakar Jha

  2. Biological and Agricultural Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA

    V. P. Singh

  3. Department of Civil Engineering, National Institute of Technology Patna, Patna, India

    Vivekanand Singh

  4. Department of Civil Engineering, National Institute of Technology Patna, Patna, India

    L. B. Roy

  5. Department of Civil Engineering, National Institute of Technology Patna, Patna, India

    Roshni Thendiyath

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Reddy, S.K., Kalathil, S.T., Chand, M.G., Chandra, V. (2022). Influence of Pier Shape and Interference Effect on Local Scour. In: Jha, R., Singh, V.P., Singh, V., Roy, L.B., Thendiyath, R. (eds) River Hydraulics. Water Science and Technology Library, vol 110. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-81768-8_25

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