Turbulent Flow Simulation of Bridge Piers and Navigation Safety of Ships in Curved River Sections with Variable Water Level

Abstract

AbstractSome of the bridges across the Yangtze River in the Three Gorges Reservoir area are in the curved section, and the collision prevention of bridges is a hot issue in the current industry. The system of ships sailing across bridges is a complex system in the discipline of transportation engineering. It is affected by ship conditions, channel conditions, meteorology and hydrology, navigation management and human factors. In order to grasp the influence of turbulent flow near the piers of bridges in curved river sections and oblique flow during variable water level periods on ships crossing bridges, it is necessary to carry out numerical simulation analysis. Methods: By establishing a simple physical model of the water area of the bridge pier, the turbulent flow field of the bridge pier was simulated in two dimensions by Fluent software. Then the turbulent flow characteristics of the single pier and the tandem double pier were compared, and the flow velocity on the upstream side of the bridge pier was used as a parameter to carry out numerical simulation. Finally, the flow-induced drift of the ship is quantitatively calculated in combination with the flow velocity. Conclusion: The two-dimensional simulation confirms that the turbulent width of the bridge pier increases with the increase of the flow velocity. The turbulent width of the tandem double pier is larger than that of the single pier, but the vorticity extending downstream is smaller than that of the single pier. The deflection moment and flow-induced drift of the ship crossing the bridge confirm the risk of ship collision. It is necessary to add a multi-function navigation mark to collect water flow parameters in time, and introduce LED visual navigation in the bridge area to improve the reliability of ship navigation in the bridge area of the curved river section.