Sedimentation Patterns of Fine-Grained Particles in the Dam Area of the Three Gorges Project: 3D Numerical Simulation
Publication: Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Volume 139, Issue 6
Abstract
This paper is focused on the sedimentation processes of fine-grained particles in a 14-km-long section upstream of the Three Gorges Dam, referred to as the dam area, during the period from March 2003 to October 2006. Field measurements indicated that sediment deposits in the dam area were mostly found at the bottom of the main channel, where a new river bed was formed with a flat, nearly horizontal surface. In contrast, very little deposits could be found on the bank slopes of the channel. The observations disagree with the previous predictions based on numerical models, which suggested more evenly distribution of deposits over the cross section. This paper explains the discrepancy by identifying the motion of muddy deposits by gravity as a key process in the dam area. A three-dimensional (3D) full Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) model is applied to calculate the flow and sediment transport processes. A critical slope method (CSM) is used to estimate the downslope movement of muddy deposits in the bottom by gravity. The formation of bottom deposits is successfully simulated using this approach. The simulated sedimentation patterns agree well with field observations.
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Acknowledgments
The work presented in this paper is financially supported by the National Basic Research 973 Program of China (Grant No. 2012CB417002), the Open Research Fund of State Key Laboratory of Simulation and Regulation of Water Cycle in River Basin (Nos. IWHR-SKL-201103 and 201117), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 51109140 and 50979043), the Open Research Fund Program of State key Laboratory of Hydroscience and Engineering (No. sklhse-2011-B-02), and the National Science and Technical Supporting Programs of China (No. 2012BAB04B03). The authors are grateful for comments made by the editors and the anonymous reviewers.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Volume 139 • Issue 6 • June 2013
Pages: 669 - 674
Copyright
© 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Nov 9, 2011
Accepted: Nov 16, 2012
Published online: Nov 20, 2012
Published in print: Jun 1, 2013
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