Author(s)

Nguyen Viet Thanh, Dang Huu Chung, Tran Dinh Nghien

University of Transport and Communication, Hanoi, Viet Nam.
Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, Hanoi, Viet Nam.

In this paper, the problem on local scour around a single square pier was studied by using both the numerical and physical models. The numerical model for the study is FSUM based on a finite-difference method to solve the Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes equations (RANS) and the equations for suspended sediment concentration and bed morphology. The computed result was verified through data measured in the experimental flume with a sand bed. In general, the typical features of local scour around the pier were successfully simulated by FSUM, such as stream flow, bow flow, down flow, horseshoe vortex. The comparison between the computation and experiment data shows a quite good fitness. Both numerical model and experiment results show that the maximum scour depth occurs at two front edges of the pier. Although the computed result shows a little bigger scour depth in comparison with the measurement in the physical model, it still confirms the reliability of numerical model in some measure.

Numerical Modeling; Experiment; Bridge Square Pier; Local Scour; FSUM Model

N. Thanh, D. Chung and T. Nghien, "Prediction of the Local Scour at the Bridge Square Pier Using a 3D Numerical Model," Open Journal of Applied Sciences, Vol. 4 No. 2, 2014, pp. 34-42. doi: 10.4236/ojapps.2014.42005.