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Flow structure and mean residence times of lateral cavities in open channel flows: influence of bed roughness and shape

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Abstract

Natural lateral cavities in open channels are important because their lower water velocities promote water quality and provide refugia for organisms. Little is known about the influence of natural cavity shapes and roughness on flow structure and exchange dynamics. We investigated the effects of cavity shape (semi-circular, backward conic, and forward conic) and bed roughness on the flow structure and mean residence time (MRT) of a lateral cavity in a flume. All cavity shapes have a flow field dominated by a one-gyre recirculation pattern, contrasting results of rectangular cavities at similar Reynolds number and aspect ratios. Transverse velocity energy spectra indicate the flow is dominated by large-scale quasi-2D coherent structures. Fundamental frequencies of mixing layer vortex shedding are fastest for forward conic cavities and slowest for backward conic cavities. Fluid enters cavities at shallower mixing layer depths, and fluid exits cavities at deeper mixing layer depths. MRTs are smaller for hydraulically smooth cases and forward conic cavities due to higher recirculation velocities. MRTs are larger for rough bed cases and backward conic cavities. Rough flow cases have a strong correlation to a predictive MRT relationship derived by Jackson et al. (Water Resour Res: 10.1002/wrcr.20272, 2013) (R 2 = 0.77); however, this predictive model does not work well for smooth cavities. Two MRT relationships were derived for smooth lateral cavities and both have strong power-law correlations to normalized MRT. Understanding cavity shape and bed roughness effects will provide a guideline for designing lateral embayments in stream restoration projects.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation, EAR 09-43570 and by the CUAHSI Pathfinder Fellowship to T. R. Jackson. We would especially like to thank Bob Basham for his exceptional assistance and instrumentation training during the laboratory experiments. We would like to thank Daniele Tonina for his sponsorship and support during the laboratory experiments. We also would like to thank the reviewers for their insightful comments, which have helped to improve the quality of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Water Resources Engineering Program, College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University, 104 CEOAS Admin. Bldg., Corvallis, OR, 97331-5503, USA

    Tracie R. Jackson

  2. Department of Mechanical, Industrial, and Manufacturing Engineering, Oregon State University, 204 Rogers Hall, Corvallis, OR, 97331, USA

    Sourabh V. Apte

  3. College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, Institute for Water and Watersheds, Oregon State University, 104 CEOAS Admin. Bldg., Corvallis, OR, 97331-5503, USA

    Roy Haggerty

  4. Department of Civil Engineering, Center for Ecohydraulics Research, University of Idaho, 322 E. Front St, Boise, ID, 83702, USA

    Ralph Budwig

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  1. Tracie R. Jackson
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Correspondence to Tracie R. Jackson.

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Jackson, T.R., Apte, S.V., Haggerty, R. et al. Flow structure and mean residence times of lateral cavities in open channel flows: influence of bed roughness and shape. Environ Fluid Mech 15, 1069–1100 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10652-015-9407-2

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