Numerical Study on Flow around Three Circular Piers in Tandem Arrangement at a Supercritical Reynolds Number

Abstract

As the support structures of building for crossing river, piers of bridge and/or aqueduct are generally arranged in tandem along the river direction, the fluid dynamic forces are main lateral loads acting on the Piers. Two-dimensional fluid computations have been performed using LES model to investigate the flows around three circular piers in tandem arrangements at a supercritical Reynolds number, Re =8.76×106. Both center-to-center spaces are L/D=2.6. The flows and fluid-dynamic forces obtained from the simulations are analyzed. The results can provide the basis for the dynamic design of the supporting structures of the aqueducts.