A comparative study to investigate the influence of bridge pier shapes on the river current motion using CFD

Abstract The effects of bridge pier shape have a significant impact on hydrodynamic properties, such as drag coefficient and Reynolds number. The main objective of this study is to look into how the Reynolds number affects the drag coefficient in a bridge pier with different shapes. The influence of Reynolds number on the drag coefficients due to river flow around a bridge pier is studied here. The different shapes of a bridge pier are considered. The pier is modeled with circular, lenticular, elliptical, square, rectangular, hexagonal, and octagonal shapes in cross-section. The investigation was performed by solving the transport equations of the shear stress transport k -omega model, which serve as the model equations. The numerical methodology available on the ANSYS FLUENT software is utilized for the highly accurate simulation process. This model is applied to illustrate the hydrodynamic interactions between the fluid medium and the pier wall. These interactions are displayed by contour plots of velocity, pressure, and turbulence kinetic energy distributions. Comparative studies among the drag coefficients, static pressure, and turbulence kinetic energy for a bridge pier with different shapes are carried out. According to the results, the drag coefficient on the square shape of the pier is the highest and the lenticular is the lowest. One notable outcome is that drag coefficients, static pressures, and turbulence kinetic energies vary significantly with the shape of the pier’s cross sections. This study sheds light on optimizing pier cross-sectional shapes, which can lead to increased hydraulic performances in real-world bridge engineering applications.