Scale Independent Linear Behavior of Alluvial Channel Flow
Publication: Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Volume 132, Issue 7
Abstract
For flow in a rigid open channel with no bed sediment, the achievement of the special state of stationary equilibrium yields a linear characteristic. To examine the existence of a linear characteristic in alluvial channel flow, this study presents a direct formulation of the special equilibrium state following a variational approach. It finds that a linear relationship between shear stress and width/depth ratio of alluvial channels emerges under the commonly identified flow resistance and sediment transport conditions. Most importantly, this linear relationship yields not only the theoretical equilibrium channel geometry that is very close to a widely identified empirical counterpart but also a nondimensional number , defined as the ratio of the relative increment of shear stress to the increment of width/depth ratio. This study suggests that needs to be adopted as a criterion of hydraulic similitude for modeling sediment (bed-load) transport in alluvial channels.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Volume 132 • Issue 7 • July 2006
Pages: 722 - 730
Copyright
© 2006 ASCE.
History
Received: Jul 20, 2004
Accepted: May 19, 2005
Published online: Jul 1, 2006
Published in print: Jul 2006
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