US-CHINA WORKSHOP ON ADVANCED COMPUTATIONAL MODELLING IN HYDROSCIENCE & ENGINEERING

September 19-21, Oxford, Mississippi, USA

SEDIMENT TRANSPORT RESEARCH IN SHALLOW OVERLAND FLOW –

A PHENOMENOLOGICAL DESCRIPTION

M. J. M. Römkens1, S. N. Prasad2, and S. Madhusudana Rao3

ABSTRACT

Shallow overland flow on agricultural land has distinctly different sediment transport characteristics
than flow in large channels and streams. The high flow velocities on steep land coupled with often
large variations in sediment concentrations stand in contrast with the sub-critical flow regimes and
relatively low sediment concentrations in stable stream systems. Yet, erosion prediction models for
upland areas use the same sediment transport relationships based on critical shear stress or stream
power concepts that are used in large stream flows. There is increasing evidence that greater
consideration must be given to the micro-mechanic nature of sediment movement in shallow
overland flow that substantially affects the sediment transport capacity and bedform development.
This article discusses the results of a highly controlled sediment transport study that shows the
sediment transport capacity limiting effect due to a high degree of sediment particle interaction.
The key parameters measured were particle velocity and the sediment concentration. The study was
conducted in a steady state flow regime to which sediment was added at a controlled rate at the
upstream of a 7 m long and 10 m wide channel of about 1º slope steepness. As the sediment
addition rate is increased, sediment movement by saltation gives way to an organized structure
consisting of a strip that transitions into a meandering bedform. The analysis is based on a two-
phase flow model involving the St. Venant equations of shallow water flow and granular flow.

1. INTRODUCTION

At the Seventh Federal Interagency Sedimentation Conference results of a study were reported (Pal
et al., 2001) that concerned the development of organizational structures in granular gravity flow,
when sand grains and glass beads were dropped at a constant rate into an inclined plane of 30o to
38o. That paper focused on possible similarities and dissimilarities between the origins of structured
flow of granular material in a gravity flow field in air or water. The study was motivated by the
observations that grains, dropped into a constant flow regime, changed their mode of transport when
the concentration increased and exceeded the transportation capacity. This mode consisted of the
development of clusters, which subsequently grew larger to become domains, and finally formed
grain waves (Fig. 1). Similar experiments were conducted with different granular materials: glass
1
Supervisory Soil Scientist, National Sedimentation Laboratory, USDA-ARS, 598 MCELROY DR, OXFORD, MS,
38655-1157, USA. Phone: 1-662-232-2940 Fax: 1-662-232-2915 Email: [email protected]
2
Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, The University of Mississippi, Carrier Hall, University, MS 38677, USA.
Phone: 1-662-915-5367 Fax: 1-662-915-5523 Email: [email protected]
3
Research Associate, Dept. of Civil Engineering, The University of Mississippi, P.O. Box 7035, University, MS 38677,
USA. Phone: 1-662-232-2957 Fax: 1-662-232-2915 Email: [email protected]
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beads between 200-250 µm, and two classes of sand of 200-250 and 300-350 µm. In all cases,
sediment waves developed and a critical concentration threshold value was reached.

Figure 1. Granular organization with increasing sediment seeding rates.

The conventional view is that detachment and subsequent transport of sediment particles in
overland flow exclusively depends on the sheer stress generated by the velocity profile. Incipient
motion requires a minimum of critical shear stress at the bed (Foster and Meyer, 1975). Others
(Rose et al., 1983) prefer to use the stream power concept and its critical value in describing
sediment detachment and subsequent transport. It is also routinely assumed that variations in the
free surface profiles in channel flow are the cause of the evolution of bed features. However, no
adequate explanation has been given for the regularity in length and time scales of these bed
features. In effect, the issue whether the surface waves in shallow flow are the sole driving
mechanism for the organized mode of sediment transport is very much an open question. This issue
motivated granular gravity flow experiments without the presence of water.

2. GRANULAR GRAVITY FLOW

Our granular flow studies (Prasad et al., 2000; Pal et al., 1999) have indicated that the particles
themselves show under certain conditions, a strong tendency of a high degree of organization in
terms of identifiable waves with distinct density characteristics. These waves can move upslope or
downslope depending on the prevailing conditions of slope, particle size, etc. In these experiments
several modes of sediment movement were noted. They have been schematically illustrated in Fig.
2. They are: (1) Uniform flow, in which the granular material moves in a near uniform
concentration downslope. This flow does
Uniform Flow Mid-inertial Flow Fully-inertial Flow

Figure 2. Shallow granular flow mode.

not show any evidence of differences in the density of the granular material. This is the prevalent
condition in low concentration regimes where the dominant movement is by saltation. (2) A mid-
inertial flow regime, where flow exhibits zones of higher densities or waves in which the individual
particle velocity has a smaller velocity than that in the rarefied zone between waves. These waves
have a higher volumetric solid fraction though the flow depth does not change in the longitudinal
flow direction. (3) A fully-inertial flow regime, in which the waves move faster than the individual
particles. The waves are zones with a higher density and the free surface varies substantial in the
flow direction.
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In light of these findings of a micro-mechanical nature of sediment particle interactions and

energy flow changes in gravity flow it was postulated that the sediment dynamics in channel with
fluid flow must be governed, at least to some degree, by similar kinetic processes, though the
presence of water may have a strong moderating influence on the organizational nature of the
particulate matter. Open channel flow exhibits a wide variety of velocity details with turbulent
scales in the range of a fraction of a mm to several cms. It is assumed that flow with supercritical
conditions with waves has sufficiently small turbulent scales. Thus the transport of sediments with
diameter larger than 200 µm will tend to preserve the mode and mechanisms observed in gravity
dominated granular flows. To address these issues, detailed laboratory tests were conducted in
which sediment was added at a known rate at an upstream point into a constant flow regime and the
sediment movement was followed.

Table 1. Properties of Materials and Flow Characteristics.

Packing Flow Froude
Material Diameter Density Factor Rate Number
µm kg m-3 1 min-1
Coarse Sand 1000-1400 2.52 0.64 21.6 1.92; 1.45
Medium Sand 600-850 2.67 0.61 15.7 1.45
Glass Beads 600-1000 1.52 0.68 15.7 1.45

3. SHALLOW FLOW STUDIES

Briefly, the experiments were concluded in a 7 m x 10.7 cm x 4.4 cm deep rectangular open
aluminum channel with an inclination <1o. A known, but controlled rate of water entered at the
upstream end of the channel and also sediment particles of a desired size range, were seeded to the
flow at a constant rate at the upstream end of the channel. Sediment movement was followed by a
set of Fotonic probes located about 4 m from the upstream end. Both particle velocity and the solid
concentration at the point of observation were determined. Two flow rates and three particle size
ranges were studied (Table 1). Details of the velocity and solid concentration measurement have
been given by Suryadevara et al. (2004) and Prasad et al. (2004). A schematic of the experimental
set up is given in Fig. 3.

Figure 3. Experimental setup of sediment transport in shallow flow.

Experiments show that at low feed rates, the sediment transport rate measured at the
downstream end of the channel equals the addition rate thus suggesting that the transport-capacity of
the flow has not yet been reached. Also, visual observations indicate that the mode of sediment
transport is by saltation. Depending on the flow rate and particle size, the sediment transport rate at
a given addition rate critical transitions into a highly organized mode of transport due to the
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increased frequency of particle collision in the flow in which kinetic energy is lost and
agglomeration of particles into clusters, followed by domains and clouds and eventually wave
packets, takes place.
When this occurs the transport rate seems to stabilize. Further increases in the addition rate do
not significantly change the transport rate. The added material is stored in the channel bed and the
flow regime in terms of the free surface boundary is materially impacted. Above a certain addition
rate, the sediment in the channel transitions from a wave packed to a meandering bed (Fig. 4). For a
flow regime of 21.6 ℓ/min with Froude number 1.92, a feed rate of 170.3 g/min of coarse sand this
change takes place in approximately 20 min. Fig. 5 shows the observed relationship of particle
addition rate

Figure 4. Successive stages of sediment

movement in shallow flow in a steady state flow Figure 5. Sediment transport rate in
regime and a constant sediment addition rate. relation to sediment addition rate.

and sediment transport rate. Similar observations were made with other flow rates (Fr. = 1.45) and
particle sizes.
From these observances, it was concluded, that particle interactions during transport have a
major impact on the mode and velocity and thus on the transport capacity of the flow regime.
Therefore, information about the solid concentration and the velocity of the individual particles in
the flow field is essential in developing an understanding of the observed phenomena. To that end,
two closely spaced optical probes aligned in the direction of flow with an 8 mm diameter sensor
hooked up to a signal analyzer were placed in the flow 4.3 m from the upstream end of the channel.
This arrangement allowed for concentration and velocity measurements. The measurements
indicated that at very low concentration, the velocity of the saltating particle consistently increased
with increasing particle concentrations reaching fairly quickly a maximum value. Thereafter, a
rapid decrease in the particle velocity were noted with further increases in the particle
concentrations (Fig. 6). The initial increase is attributed to a redistribution of the streamline pattern
in the neighborhood of sediment particles. However, it is well known that the boundary layer is
distorted due to the sediment near the bed. The subsequent decrease is the result of kinetic energy
loss through collisions of individual particles. Thus increasing the sediment addition rate leads to
more frequent collisions and reduced particle velocities. Just, as we have seen in the case of gravity
flow, a “pile-up” occurs at the upstream end of the wave packet while at the downstream end,
particles are swept up again by the flow, gain momentum until the next series collisions lead to a
new wave packet development. It was also observed that in the flow, the sediment particles were
mainly concentrated in a shallow layer near the channel bottom of which the thickness appears to be
decreasing with increasing concentrations. This phenomenon was also observed in the gravity flow
experiments. The remainder of the shallow flow layer was particle free.
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Figure 6. Observed relationship between sediment particle

velocity and solid concentration for different glass beads and
coarse sand and a flow rate of Fr = 1.92.

The observation of two zones of flow, the bottom zone with sediment and the upper one
without sediment was the impetus of formulating a mathematical model, in which to each zone the
mass and momentum balance equation were applied (Fig. 7). The momentum equation for the

Figure 7. Sediment transport in water over an inclined channel.

τs - unit width dispersive stress in the sediment ,τ - unit width
tractive hydro-dynamic stress on the sediment, h - saltation
height, H - water depth (flow), θ - bed slope and x,y,z are
coordinates
sediment some includes components for pressure, gravitation, and the dispersive stress between
particles and the water phase, while the momentum equation for the sediment free zone includes the
gravity and flow resistance effect. The details of this treatise has been given by Prasad et al.
(submitted). Briefly, the relationships for the sediment zone are:

∂
(ρm h ) + ∂ (ρm hu ) = 0 (1)
∂t ∂x

∂
(ρm hu ) + ∂ ⎛⎜ ρm hu 2 ⎞⎟ = ∂p + ρmg h sin θ − h (τs − τ) (2)
∂t ∂x ⎝ ⎠ η∂x

and for the sediment free zone are:

∂η ∂η ∂U
+U +η =0 (3)
∂τ ∂x ∂x
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where ρm is the effective continuum density of the solid, h is the thickness of the sediment zone or
saltation height, u is the grain velocity, p is the pressure on the sediment particle and consists of the
hydrodynamic pressure ph of the overland flow plus the

∂U ∂U ∂η
+U +g − g sin θ = − T (4)
∂t ∂X ∂x

dispersive pressure pd of the sediment, θ is the channel slope, T is the effective flow resistance, U is
the depth-average flow velocity, τ is the shear stress, and η = H - h with H being the flow depth.
The pressure on the solid particles, consists of two components the hydrodynamic pressure ph
of the overland flow, and the dispersive pressure pd through dilatational effects while the
hydrodynamic pressure is readily accounted for by the relationship:

p = ρ w g (H − y ) (5)
h

The dispersive stress is quantified based on Bagnold’s work (1954), where it is assumed that
for small shear rates, the case behaves like a Newtonian fluid, in which the normal (Pd) and
tangential (τs) stresses are linearly proportional to the fluid dynamic viscosity µ, the shear rate γ and
the volumetric solid factor αv. Here the stresses varied with the solid concentration as α3/2, where α
is the linear concentration which is defined as the ratio of the grain diameter to the mean radial
separation distance.
From the above, this information the concentration profile α(X) can be determined in terms of
its spatial derivative (Prasad et al; 2005):

(u − c )2 −4 d α
⎛ 1⎞ 5h dα
3ρo ⎜1 + ⎟ − µγα1 / 2 =
α2 ⎝ α ⎠ dX ρ s d s dX
(6)
ρ w hg dη ⎛ 1 ⎞ −3 h ⎡2.25 µγα 3 / 2 − τ ⎤
− ρ o g ⎜1 + ⎟ sin θ +
ρs d s d X ⎝ α⎠ ρs d s ⎢⎣ ⎥⎦

where the moving coordinate X = (x-ct), c is the velocity of the solid density wave.
In evaluating this model, the shear rate γ must be known and this can be derived from particle
velocity gradients. Given the difficulty of obtaining this information, an alternative method was
used to obtain an analytical expression for the solid fraction based on the hydrodynamic stress with
the drag coefficient and slope velocity being the difference between free water velocity of the
sediment free zone and the water velocity moving through the solid particles in the saltation layer.
The slip velocity is a measure of the mean fluid thrust on the sediment layer on the saltation layer.
The hydrodynamic stress between fluid and solids was derived as:
24 ρ w νC o Uα 3
τ= (7)
hd s

and the particle velocity u relationship in terms of α is given by:

h
u =10.7 C m C o Uα 3 / 2 (8)
ds
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Fig. 8 shows the calculated relationship between the particle velocity and the solid
concentrations for different ratios of saltation height over particle diameter and flow velocities for
low solid concentrations.

Figure 8. Particle velocity predictions relationships

as a function of the solid concentration for h/ds
ratios.
The transition from saltation to a slip mode transport capacity is obtained for the condition
dα/dx = 0 in Eq. (6). This lead, to the following relationship between the solid concentration:

α6 3 q 2m
= (9)
( )
1+ α 2 ⎛h⎞
48 ⎜⎜ ⎟⎟ c 2r oρ s ρ u ν U
⎝ ds ⎠

SUMMARY

A mathematical model was developed and formulated based on observations of sediment movement
in shallow flow which provide a better understanding of the mechanism of sediment transport
modes from saltation to wave packets.

REFERENCES

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Newtonian fluid under shear.” Proc. Roy. Soc. London. A 225, pp 49-63.
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