Modelación numérica del flujo turbulento causante de la socavación alrededor de una pila circular de un puente empleando la dinámica de fluidos computacional (CFD) – Ansys .

Abstract

Scour in bridge piers can lead to their collapse. This research addresses it using computational fluid dynamics employing ANSYS Fluent software. Generating scour on the sand surface was reached by programming an algorithm that models sediment transport and mesh adaptation. The algorithm was developed in C language as a User Defined Function (UDF) and compiled with the solver. It performs a mesh sensitivity analysis and turbulence analysis with the k-epsilon and k-omega models. Comparison of the experimental speeds and the simulations indicate that the numerical modeling performed with the k-omega turbulence model, 16 mm mesh size, and one-hour simulation presented 81% similarity in the y = 7 cm plane. Regarding turbulence, the turbulent kinetic energy analysis found similarities in the trends of the curves but differences in the magnitudes. The scour hole dimensions present similar values on the sides of the pile but differences in its front part and depth.