Cristina Fael

Clear-water scour at comparatively large cylindrical piers

AbstractNew long-duration clear-water scour data were collected at single cylindrical piers with the objective of investigating the effect of sediment coarseness, Dp/D50 (Dp = pier diameter; D50 = median grain size) on the equilibrium scour depth and improving the scour depth time evolution modeling by making use of the exponential function suggested in the literature. Experiments were carried out for the flow intensity close to the threshold condition of initiation of sediment motion, imposing wide changes of sediment coarseness and flow shallowness, d/Dp (d = approach flow depth). The effect of sediment coarseness on the equilibrium scour depth was identified; existing predictors were modified to incorporate this effect for U/Uc≈1.0; Dp/D50>≈60 and d/Dp≥0.5; the complete characterization of a known scour depth time evolution model was achieved for U/Uc≈1.0, 60

Clear-water scour at pile groups

AbstractGroups of piles are frequently used as bridge foundations. Different group configurations, characterized by different pile spacing, skew-angle, number, and arrangement of pile group columns interact differently with the flow field and lead to different scour patterns and equilibrium scour depth. There have been a number of past studies on the characterization of scouring at pile groups, but most of them report short duration scour experiments. A priori, such short durations may be postulated to inherently carry important uncertainties into existing scour predictors. In this study, 75 long-duration laboratory tests were run under steady, clear-water flow close to the threshold for initiation of sediment motion, to address the effect of time, pile spacing, skew-angle and number of pile group columns on the equilibrium scour depth. Pile groups consisted of matrical arrangements of one, two, or three columns of four rows, with spacings of 1, 2, 3, 4.5, and 6 pile diameters; the tested skew-angles were...

Protecting Vertical-Wall Abutments with Riprap Mattresses

This study addresses the design of riprap mattresses as a scour countermeasure near vertical-wall bridge abutments under clear water flow conditions. It specifically deals with the diameter of riprap, Dr50, the lateral extent of mattresses, w, and their thickness, t. Experiments were performed in a rectangular, sand-bed open channel using different abutment lengths, three riprap stone sizes, and two different sands. The minimum size of stable stones as well as the mattress dimensions depend on the ratio between the abutment length and the flow depth. New equations for the evaluation of Dr50 and w are suggested. The geometric properties of the scour holes which develop at the edge of riprap mattresses are similar to those reported in the literature for spill-through abutments. Although it is not possible to fully arrest scour by winnowing, the corresponding scour depth is negligible when the mattress layer thickness is at least 6Dr50.

Toe protection for spill-through and vertical-wall abutments

This study addresses the design of riprap aprons as a scour countermeasure near abutments under clear-water conditions. It deals with the lateral extent of riprap aprons and the geometry of the scour hole prevailing at the apron edge. The study applies to riprap aprons acting as granular filters. The scour depth appears to be independent for a sufficiently long relative abutment length. Scour holes develop farther away from spill-through abutments than from vertical-wall abutments; the distance between the point of maximum scour depth and the abutment increases with the relative abutment length. The effect of contraction on this distance was not identified. The angle defining the position of the deepest scour point is close to 30°. Neither the abutment shape nor the flow contraction seems to influence the minimum stable apron width.

Effect of Viscosity on the Equilibrium Scour Depth at Single Cylindrical Piers

AbstractMost studies on scouring seem to have overlooked the effect of viscosity, the assumption being that the flow is free of viscous effects inside the scour hole because of the presence of highly turbulent flow structures such as down-flow, horseshoe vortex, and wake vortices irrespective of the approach flow regime. The present work reports the results of experiments conceived to revisit the effect of viscosity on scouring. The experiments were performed by changing the Reynolds-like numbers for two flow shallowness values and keeping constant the remaining dimensionless parameters that control the scour process. The values of the Reynolds number corresponded to transitional approach flows. The experimental results indicate that scouring does depend on viscosity in usual laboratory conditions, the viscous effect leading to scour depths in the safety side.

Clear-water scour at submerged pile groups

ABSTRACT Accurate estimates of the scour depth around submerged pile groups are important in river engineering for a number of reasons, however, the literature on this issue is scarce. This study introduced an experimental campaign of 48 long-duration clear water experiments at submerged and skewed pile groups composed of cylindrical elements under steady flow. The effects of the skew angle, submergence ratio and pile group configuration on the equilibrium scour depth were investigated. The experimental scour depths were compared with the results from the HEC-18 empirical method and a modification of it to take into account a wide range of submergence ratios was proposed. Further, a new formulation to estimate the equilibrium scour depth at submerged pile groups was introduced with good agreement for the tests under consideration. Some considerations about the most employed characteristic lengths used to normalize the equilibrium scour depth were made.

Influence of clogging on the hydrologic performance of a double layer porous asphalt

ABSTRACT Nowadays, the increasing urbanisation and the effect of climate change in cities has been a constant concern. In particular, the floods cause a significant increase in surface runoff, mostly on roads and parking areas. As an alternative to asphalt pavements, usually used in these areas, permeable pavements have been developed with Porous Asphalt (PA). These pavements allow the infiltration of water from the surface to the ground due to the high void content of the PA, thus reducing the surface runoff and increasing recharge of groundwater. Over the years, the infiltration capacity of the mixtures decreases with the clogging by sediments from the vehicles themselves and/or from the local environment. In order to mitigate this effect, a Double Layer Porous Asphalt (DLPA) was developed. This research intends to deepen the knowledge about the influence of the clogging of a DLPA, with respect to the infiltration capacity, since it is an essential theme in the pavements lifespan and that needs to be developed. This study considered different evaluation phases of the infiltration capacity with two clogging cycles (500 and 1000 g/m2). The materials used were: sand, region soil, and rubber waste. The infiltration capacity test was performed in different phases after a rainfall event of 100 mm/h with a rainfall simulator developed for this purpose. Furthermore, the permeability test with the falling head permeameter was carried out in parallel, obtaining outflow times for each clogging phase and subsequent maintenance phase. The research concluded that DLPA has a high infiltration capacity after the first clogging cycle in both performed tests. In the second clogging cycle, the results show that the infiltration decreased due to the partial filling of the pores, mainly, for the rubber-filled DLPA. The type of clogging material influences the infiltration capacity, nevertheless partially recovered after simple maintenance was performed.