Fluvial Hydrodynamics: Hydrodynamic and Sediment Transport

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Earth Sciences".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 May 2022) | Viewed by 8591

Special Issue Editor

Department of Engineering, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
Interests: present research efforts include the investigation in fluvial hydraulics and eco-hydraulics (flow resistance, effect of vegetation, sediment transport, effects of bed roughness), prediction of river morphological evolution (meandering and braiding) both through experimental investigations and by the development of numerical simulation codes
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

It is our pleasure to announce the opening of the new Special Issue “Fluvial Hydrodynamics: Hydrodynamic and Sediment Transport” in Applied Science.

The analysis of the movement of grains under different hydrodynamic conditions is extremely important to analyze river and coastal morphodynamics that could occur as a result of natural and/or of human interventions. Understanding fundamental hydrodynamic characteristics related to turbulent diffusion and mixing properties is important for identifying many environmental processes, such as sediment transport and mixing of transported quantities. The present issue wants to contribute to this field by presenting the most relevant advances in fundamental aspects of the erosion, entrainment into suspension, transport, and deposition of sediment in fluvial and coastal systems. Emphasis is given to three main aspects: the fundamentals of hydrodynamics and particle motion, the turbulence flow characteristics and the effects on sediment motion, and the links between sediment transport and morphology.

You are kindly invited to submit a manuscript in any aspect of theoretical analysis and/or experimental results on mechanisms of flow-sediment interaction, two-phase erosion (including the influences of geomorphic processes over a range of spatial and time scales), and on presenting new insights derived from simulating or modeling these interactions in experimental, field, or computational settings.

Dr. Donatella Termini
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • flow velocity
  • turbulence
  • sediment transport
  • mixing
  • erosion
  • suspension
  • morphodynamics

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

25 pages, 5853 KiB  
Article
Modelling Regime Changes of Dunes to Upper-Stage Plane Bed in Flumes and in Rivers
by Olav J. M. van Duin, Suzanne J. M. H. Hulscher and Jan S. Ribberink
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(23), 11212; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app112311212 - 25 Nov 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1551
Abstract
In this paper we derive a new morphological model, with an extended version of the sediment transport model for the mean step length (the average distance travelled by sediment particles), in which this mean step length depends on the mean bed shear stress. [...] Read more.
In this paper we derive a new morphological model, with an extended version of the sediment transport model for the mean step length (the average distance travelled by sediment particles), in which this mean step length depends on the mean bed shear stress. This model makes the step length increase with increasing flow, in line with previous experimental results. To account for suspension and the large-scale turbulent structures in rivers, the step length also depends explicitly on water depth. This approach enabled modelling of the transition from dunes to the upper-stage plane bed. It was shown that by increasing the step length, the lag between shear stress and bed load transport rate increases, and the dunes eventually become smoother and lower, until finally the dunes wash out. The newly adopted model approach is tested successfully with a synthetic data set from the literature, where plane bed conditions are indeed reached in the model, similar to the results of a more advanced model. It is shown that with increasing discharge, the flow increases, which leads to higher step length and to the washing out of the dunes. Although the present model still overestimates the dune height for river cases, the potential of the model concept for river dune dynamics, including the transition to upper-stage plane bed, is shown. The model results indicate that, if a transition to upper-stage plane bed occurs in a realistic river scenario, a reduction of the water depth of approximately 0.5 m can occur. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fluvial Hydrodynamics: Hydrodynamic and Sediment Transport)
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12 pages, 2123 KiB  
Article
Experimental Study on the Near-Bed Flow Characteristics of Alluvial Channel with Seepage
by Anurag Sharma, Bimlesh Kumar and Giuseppe Oliveto
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(20), 9619; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app11209619 - 15 Oct 2021
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 1139
Abstract
This paper aims to analyze the turbulent structure of flows over beds undergoing downward seepage under clear-water conditions. Laboratory experiments in this regard were carried out in a straight rectangular channel that was 17.20 m long and 1.00 m wide. A sandy bed [...] Read more.
This paper aims to analyze the turbulent structure of flows over beds undergoing downward seepage under clear-water conditions. Laboratory experiments in this regard were carried out in a straight rectangular channel that was 17.20 m long and 1.00 m wide. A sandy bed with median grain size d50 = 0.50 mm and sediment gradation σg = 1.65 (i.e., slightly non-uniform sediment) was used for the channel bed. The 3D instantaneous velocities of water were measured with an Acoustic Doppler Velocimeter (ADV) at the working test section. In the vicinity of the bed surface with seepage, measurements revealed that the flow longitudinal velocities (i.e., velocities in x direction) were higher than those in the case of a bed without seepage. Moreover, the variations inthe Reynolds shear stresses increased for the bed with seepage, indicating a higher exchange of flow energy towards the boundary and vice versa. Therefore, it was found that seepage processes influence the turbulence intensity, with a prominent magnitude in the streamwise and vertical directions. The paper also focuses on the third-order moment (skewness) and the kurtosis of velocity fluctuations and the governance of sweep events within the near-bed flow in cases where seepage was observed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fluvial Hydrodynamics: Hydrodynamic and Sediment Transport)
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29 pages, 5745 KiB  
Article
Assessing and Modelling the Interactions of Instrumented Particles with Bed Surface at Low Transport Conditions
by Zaid Alhusban and Manousos Valyrakis
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(16), 7306; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app11167306 - 09 Aug 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2012
Abstract
Sediment transport at near threshold to low transport stages (below the continuous transport) can still be affected by flow turbulence and its dynamics can benefit from further comprehensive studies. This study uses an instrumented particle embedded with micro electromechanical sensors (MEMS) to allow [...] Read more.
Sediment transport at near threshold to low transport stages (below the continuous transport) can still be affected by flow turbulence and its dynamics can benefit from further comprehensive studies. This study uses an instrumented particle embedded with micro electromechanical sensors (MEMS) to allow tracking the motions and forces acting on it, leading to and during its transport. Instrumented particle transport experiments were carried out at laboratory flume under a range of flow conditions. The probability distributions functions (PDFs) of bed load particle instantaneous velocities, hop distances and associated travel times (measured from start to stop of transport) were obtained for all the performed experiments with varying flow rates and particle density. The modelled distributions are useful and enable a deeper understanding of bed load sediment transport dynamics from a Lagrangian perspective. Furthermore, the results analyzed from the instrumented particle (including the particle’s transport mode) were validated using visual particle tracking methods (top and side cameras). The findings of this study demonstrate that for the range of turbulent flows trialed herein, the instrumented particle can be a useful, accessible, and low-cost tool for obtaining particle transport dynamics, having demonstrated satisfactory potential for field deployment in the near future. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fluvial Hydrodynamics: Hydrodynamic and Sediment Transport)
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13 pages, 1457 KiB  
Article
Experiments on Longitudinal and Transverse Bedload Transport in Sine-Generated Meandering Channels
by Li He, Dong Chen, Donatella Termini, Shiyan Zhang and Zhenhui Zhu
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(14), 6560; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app11146560 - 16 Jul 2021
Viewed by 1191
Abstract
Bedload grains in consecutive meandering bends either move longitudinally or across the channel centerline. This study traces and quantifies the grains’ movement in two laboratorial sine-generated channels, i.e., one with deflection angle θ0 = 30° and the other 110°. The grains originally [...] Read more.
Bedload grains in consecutive meandering bends either move longitudinally or across the channel centerline. This study traces and quantifies the grains’ movement in two laboratorial sine-generated channels, i.e., one with deflection angle θ0 = 30° and the other 110°. The grains originally paved along the channels are uniform in size with D = 1 mm and are dyed in various colors, according to their initial location. The experiments recorded the changes in the flow patterns, bed deformation, and the gain-loss distribution of the colored grains in the pool-bar complexes. We observed the formation of two types of erosion zones during the process of the bed deformation, i.e., Zone 1 in the foreside of the point bars and Zone 2 near the concave bank downstream of the bend apexes. Most grains eroded from Zone 1 are observed moving longitudinally as opposed to crossing the channel centerline. Contrastingly, the dominant moving direction of the grains eroded from Zone 2 changes from the longitudinal direction to the transversal one as the bed topography evolves. Besides, most building material of the point bars comes from the upstream bends, although low- and highly curved channels behave differently. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fluvial Hydrodynamics: Hydrodynamic and Sediment Transport)
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17 pages, 3258 KiB  
Article
Investigation of a Gravel-Bed River’s Pattern Changes: Insights from Satellite Images
by Donatella Termini
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(5), 2103; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app11052103 - 27 Feb 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1481
Abstract
Changes in river pattern have been documented in the literature. The recognition of islands and vegetated patches, which is indicative of the evolution processes, requires simultaneous information at different points and at different times and field studies are still difficult and scarce. The [...] Read more.
Changes in river pattern have been documented in the literature. The recognition of islands and vegetated patches, which is indicative of the evolution processes, requires simultaneous information at different points and at different times and field studies are still difficult and scarce. The present work, focusing the attention on a gravel-bed river, explores the possibility to conduct a first-step pattern changes analysis by identifying the evolution of the morphological features and taking information of islands and vegetated patches from satellite images easily available from Google Earth. The study is conducted by combining the information taken from both the satellite images and the field photos and the hydrological data. Here analysis concerns a reach of the Tagliamento River, in Italy, in a decadal timescale characterized by evident stream pattern changes. Results confirm that a combination of different factors determine favorable conditions for the river’s evolution, but the frequency of occurrence of high-magnitude events is the most important factor to consider in a first-step analysis. This is because the frequency of occurrence of high-magnitude events affects, in turn, some of the other influencing factors. In particular, the present study highlights that different morphological features form in time periods characterized by different frequency of occurrence of high-magnitude events. On one hand, this could be related to the fact that high-magnitude events could influence the sediment transport and deposition mechanisms, modifying the ratio coarse-to-fine sediments and the grain-to-grain interactions, with consequences in the sediment flux variation and in the migration of the morphological features. On the other hand, the frequency of occurrence of high-magnitude events could affect the vegetation distribution and growth, contributing to determine a variation of the typology of the vegetation characteristics depending on the tolerances of the vegetation species. A sort of interface between the vegetated-dominated area, where the flow resistance is significant, and the flood-disturbance-dominated area, where the action by flow is significant, is determined with a progressive reduction of the number of active channels and development of the meandering bend. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fluvial Hydrodynamics: Hydrodynamic and Sediment Transport)
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