Researchers at the Federal Highway Administration and the new Transportation Research and Analysis Computing Center (a partnership of the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Argonne National Laboratory) are using supercomputers with multidimensional hydraulics programs to study hydrodynamic forces on flooded bridge decks. These supercomputer programs can closely mimic real-life conditions. A k-(epsilon) turbulence model and large eddy simulation together with the volume of fluid method simulates the flow past the bridge deck in an open channel. The predictions of drag, lift, and moment coefficients through the numerical modeling show a trend similar to flume experimental results. Bridge designers will be able to use the numerical computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model to obtain the coefficients on a bridge deck in an open channel for various flow conditions encountered in practice. Researchers are undertaking additional simulations for other shapes of bridge decks to predict the drag, lift, and moments with thehelp of CFD. It is hoped that improved hydraulic and scour estimation using these computer programs will benefit both the planning and design of bridges.
Abstract