Experimental investigation of the effect of skew angle on partially or fully submerged deck scour

Abstract

This paper presents the results of an experimental study investigating the effect of skew angle on clear-water contraction scour under a bridge deck at partially and fully submerged flow conditions. Two bridge deck models without a pier, one of which was located perpendicular to the flow while the other one was located with skewness of 15°, were used in the study. Forty experiments were performed for each deck model, 24 of which were under partially submerged and 16 were under fully submerged flow conditions. Analysis of the experimental data showed that as the discharge and approach flow depth increased, the maximum scour hole depth under the skewed deck model increased up to 25%–66% for fully submerged flow and 17%–57% for partially submerged flow conditions. Furthermore, the effect of skew angle significantly enlarged the width of the scour hole as you move along the skewed deck.