Computational fluid dynamics predictions of critical hydrodynamics thresholds in the erodibility of inland waterway bank by ship-induced waves

Abstract

A three-dimensional numerical simulation method based on the resolution of Navier–Stokes equations is used to determine the causal relationship between the ship-induced waves and the erosion phenomenon of the inland waterway banks, and also to provide the critical conditions for waterway bank protection. The erosion process of the bank is defined here as the criterion in which the movements of the discrete medium blocks and particles that form the banks by the action of ship waves undergo a significant jump beyond the critical value of Froude number (Frc). By investigating the wave elevation drawdowns nearby the waterway banks, it is shown that the normal impact force and tangential shear stress caused by ship-induced waves are the main culprits of bank erodibility. The numerical results show that by approaching the Frc, the increasing rate of drawdown reaches its maximum causing a jump in the force of total pressure, which in turn gives a rise to a peak in the shear stress on the waterway bank.