| Abstract: | A new experimental and numerical approach to predict scour around abutments located either in the floodplain of a compound channel or in a rectangular channel was investigated. A prediction equation for the scour around abutments was proposed on the basis of the experimental study. A special horizontal two-dimensional (2D) numerical model was combined with the experimental studies. The 2D model is based on the principles of the finite volume method with Riemann solvers. The corrections to account for the impacts of the hydrostatic pressure assumption, turbulence, and three-dimensional behavior were embedded in the 2D model. The proposed prediction equation is based on both experimental and numerical techniques for estimation of scour depths in cases with different channel geometries and abutment lengths under various flow conditions. A comparison was done of the measured scour depths from the experiments and the calculated scour depths from the prediction equation. It was proved that the scour depths predicted with the proposed equation matched better with the measured values than another similar prediction equation. |
