Design Formula for Sizing Rock Riprap at Spill-Through Abutments in Compound Channels
Publication: Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Volume 147, Issue 10
Abstract
A numerically based investigation is carried out to determine the minimum median diameter of the riprap stone needed to avoid shear failure inside the riprap apron used to protect spill-trough abutments against erosion. The study considers identical spill-through abutments placed on the floodplains of a compound channel. Several series of Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) simulations are conducted with varying floodplain width, , ratio between the abutment length and the floodplain width, , mean diameter of the riprap stone, , and channel curvature, , to estimate the maximum Froude number, Fr, at which riprap stones in aprons placed at the base of spill-through abutments will resist shear failure by the flow. A design formula for riprap size selection in aprons protecting spill-through abutments is proposed. The formula is expressed as , where is the flow depth next to the toe of the abutment. The two model parameters are and . Results show that is only a function of for abutments that do not extend until close to the main channel and for abutments extending over the whole width of the floodplain.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request, including data files containing bed-shear stress distributions.
Acknowledgments
This research was funded by Grant No. 15801350/15243500 from Mid-America Transportation Center (MATC). The authors would like to thank MATC for supporting this research.
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Published In
Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Volume 147 • Issue 10 • October 2021
Copyright
© 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Oct 15, 2020
Accepted: Apr 22, 2021
Published online: Jul 16, 2021
Published in print: Oct 1, 2021
Discussion open until: Dec 16, 2021
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