Hydrodynamic forces on inundated bridge decks

4562888712009Laboratory reportKerenyi, KornelPDFTech ReportFHWA-HRT-09-028DTFH-04-C-00037Bridge decksHydrodynamicsFluid dynamicsLaboratory testsTurner-Fairbank Highway Research CenterKerenyi, KornelSofu, TanjuGuo, JunkeGKY & AssociatesUniversity of Nebraska--LincolnUnited States. Federal Highway Administration. Office of Infrastructure Research and DevelopmentTurner-Fairbank Highway Research CenterNTL-HIGHWAY/ROAD TRANSPORTATION-Bridges and StructuresNTL-HIGHWAY/ROAD TRANSPORTATION-DesignNTL-HIGHWAY/ROAD TRANSPORTATION-Construction and MaintenanceFederal Highway AdministrationThe hydrodynamic forces experienced by an inundated bridge deck have great importance in the design of bridges. Specifically, the drag force, lift force, and the moment acting on the bridge deck under various levels of inundation and a range of flow conditions influence the design and construction of the bridge. This report explores the forces acting on bridges in two ways. First, through physical experimentation on scaled-down bridge deck models tested in a flume and then with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation models. Three bridge deck prototypes were used for the experimentation: a typical six-girder highway bridge deck, a three-girder deck, and a streamlined deck designed to better withstand the hydraulic forces. The forces (expressed as non-dimensional force coefficients) on each of the bridge deck shapes were measured in the laboratory with an ultra-precise force balance under a range of inundation scenarios (including partial inundation) and at four different velocities characterized by Froude numbers in the range of 0.16 to 0.32