3D Numerical Studying into Combined Models of Pier Shape and Slot in Reducing the Bed Shear Stresses Starter of Scouring around the Bridge Pier

When a structure is placed on an erodible bed, it causes an increase in local sediment transport capacity and consequently this leads to scour in the vicinity of the structure. This is referred to as local scour in the literature. Local scour has been identified as one of the key factors that cause failure of structures in the bridges, jetties and offshore platforms. The complexities of bridge scour mechanism have caused the scour to be one of the most active topics in civil engineering researches. Numerous studies have been reported on local scour around bridge piers in steady currents in the last decades. A majority of these studies deal with laboratory model studies. A brief literature review can reveal the importance of this subject. Several methods have been proposed by researchers to control the scour around the bridge piers. These methods can be divided into two main categories: the first one is the armoring method or increasing the resistance of the bed material around the pier as rip rap, and the second one is altering of the flow pattern around the pier.