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Investigation of Vorticity Effects on Local Scouring

  • Research Article - Civil Engineering
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Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper describes a numerical model developed to simulate flow and bed deformation around hydraulic structures. The model uses an improved formula for the bed shear stress by applying vorticity effect and solves the full three-dimensional Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations to calculate the flow field. The capability for numerical models to predict local scour is severely restricted by the sediment transport formula. Up to now, the scour computations were developed based on general sedimentation formula through a straight unobstructed flow path. The new sedimentation formula introduced in this paper can take into account vortices that affect the local scour process. To verify the model, a bridge pier and a groyne, which are considered as typical river-engineering structures, were simulated in different hydraulic conditions by applying both the ordinary bed shear stress equation and the new one. Comparisons show that the new equation could predict the scour more accurately than the ordinary one.

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Abbreviations

u :

Velocity

i, j :

Direction descriptors

t :

Time

ρ :

Density of the fluid

f :

Body force

p :

Pressure

υ :

Kinematic viscosity of the fluid

τ ij :

Reynolds stress component

u′:

Fluctuating velocity

υ t :

Eddy viscosity

S ij :

Strain-rate tensor

δ ij :

Kronecker delta

k :

Turbulence kinetic energy

\({\varepsilon}\) :

Turbulence dissipation

G:

Rate of turbulence production

\({\sigma_k ,\sigma _\varepsilon ,C_{1\varepsilon} ,C_{2\varepsilon} ,C_\mu}\) :

Coefficients

c :

Suspended-sediment concentration

w s :

Fall velocity of the sediment particle

x :

General space dimension

z :

x 3(vertical direction component)

Γ:

Diffusion coefficient

Sc :

Turbulent Schmidt number

u * :

Shear velocity

d :

Sediment particle diameter

a :

Reference level

τ :

Bed shear stress

τ c :

Critical bed-shear stress

ρ s :

Density of sediment

g :

Acceleration of gravity.

c bed :

Suspended-sediment concentration on the reference level

q b :

Bed load transport

τ e :

Effective tractive stress

φ :

Angle between bed and horizontal direction

\({\phi}\) :

Repose angle

n :

Total sediment continuity defect in a bed cell

ω :

Vorticity

Ω:

Angular velocity

r :

Radius of rotation

a c :

Centripetal acceleration

F c :

Centripetal force

m :

Mass of rotating particle

r 0 :

Radius of sediment particle

ρ s :

Density of sediment particle

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Civil Engineering, University College of Engineering, University of Tehran, P.O. Box 11155-4563, Enghelab Avenue, Tehran, Iran

    Reza Ghiassi

  2. Islamic Azad University, Pardis Branch, Pardis, Iran

    Amir Hosein Abbasnia

Authors
  1. Reza Ghiassi
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  2. Amir Hosein Abbasnia
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Correspondence to Reza Ghiassi.

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Ghiassi, R., Abbasnia, A.H. Investigation of Vorticity Effects on Local Scouring. Arab J Sci Eng 38, 537–548 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13369-012-0337-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13369-012-0337-8

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