Thermal modelling of a canal bridge
An example of the application of CFD simulation in the world of civil engineering.
During the construction of an engineering structure, thermal loads must be taken into account if the structure is to be properly dimensioned, as the presence of thermal gradients is likely to generate significant stresses that need to be anticipated. Civil engineering generally uses design standards such as EUROCODES for this purpose. However, it is sometimes necessary to supplement this approach with modelling, particularly in the case of complex, massive structures or structures that may be exposed to extreme conditions.
The project described here falls within this framework, with thermal modelling of meteorological situations that could potentially penalise the structure.
Assessment of thermal loads in a canal bridge under adverse weather conditions
Background and issues
- Construction of a canal bridge, an engineering structure fully exposed to external conditions (wind, sunshine, temperature);
- EUROCODES standards do not necessarily cover the full range of possibilities (inertia due to the presence of water, asymmetry due to sunlight and wind, etc.);
- Need to assess the temperatures and thermal gradients likely to be observed in the event of an unfavourable configuration;
- A combination of several physical effects: convective exchanges due to the wind, solar radiation, radiative exchanges with the immediate environment, convective exchanges with the water in the trough;
- Key physical concepts: convection, radiation, conjugate heat transfer.
Contributions to the project
- Development and validation of a methodology for the thermal simulation of engineering structures with reasonable calculation time and cost;
- Identification of meteorological configurations potentially penalising thermal gradients in the metal structure of the structure;
- Creation of meshes and simulations. Study the impact of different parameters;
- Contribution to the integration of results into a calculation chain to obtain results in terms of stresses on the structure.
Technical environment
- Linux and Windows;
- Personal computing cluster;
- Programming with C/C++;
- Meshing with Salome;
- CFD with Code_Saturne & Syrthes;
- Visualization with Paraview.
