Abstract
Local scouring is one of the major causes of bridge failures. In the present study, scouring around a group of 3-round bridge piers in uniform sand with clear water was investigated through 3D numerical modelling. The flow of water and sand was modelled as a two-phase flow (water and sand) while a standard modified k-epsilon model was employed for the estimation of turbulence parameters. The numerical results were compared with data gathered from a physical model of the same structure. The agreement between the results from the numerical model and the experiments was satisfactory and thus, the method is promising for future research and practical use in estimating the size of a scour hole around a group of bridge piers.