Experimental Investigation of the Effect of Inlet Concentration on the Behavior of Turbidity Currents in the Presence of Two Consecutive Obstacles
Publication: Journal of Waterway, Port, Coastal, and Ocean Engineering
Volume 143, Issue 2
Abstract
Turbidity currents are often the main processes of sediment transport in deep waters and reservoirs. To prevent sedimentation in critical locations, various methods, such as placing solid obstacles in the path of these flows, have been proposed. In the present study, the effect of inlet concentration on the behavior of turbidity currents in the presence of two consecutive triangular obstacles was investigated experimentally. For this purpose, a series of laboratory experiments were conducted with various inlet concentrations. In each experiment, velocity and concentration profiles were measured using an acoustic Doppler velocimeter. The velocity of the current head and local Froude number were also determined along the test channel. The results show that a region with negligible velocity and a notable concentration develops upstream of each obstacle, and as the inlet concentration increases, this region becomes larger. In addition, the results also indicate that the sediment deposition rate is higher upstream of the first obstacle compared to that of the second obstacle. Furthermore, observations show that three recirculation regions are developed between the obstacles.
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Acknowledgments
The authors thank the Center of Excellence in Energy Conversion (CEEC) at the Sharif University of Technology for providing the facilities for these experiments.
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Published In
Journal of Waterway, Port, Coastal, and Ocean Engineering
Volume 143 • Issue 2 • March 2017
Copyright
© 2016 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jan 4, 2016
Accepted: May 23, 2016
Published online: Sep 8, 2016
Discussion open until: Feb 8, 2017
Published in print: Mar 1, 2017
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