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Sediment transport during flood event: a review

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Abstract

Flow unsteadiness in flood events has a significant effect on the structure of the flow field and motion of sediment particles, thereby affecting dispersion of pollutants and river ecology. The aim of the present article was to evaluate state-of-the-art research efforts concerning flow characteristics and sediment transport in unsteady flow condition. The paper is organized in four sections: The first section deals with the unsteady parameters which affect sediment transport. In the second section, the flow characteristics in unsteady open channel flow are presented. Different studies showed that the flow characteristics which affect sediment transport including velocity distribution or shear stress during passage of a hydrograph differ from steady flow condition. In addition, measurements during passage of a hydrograph show that turbulence intensity is generally larger in the rising limb of the hydrograph rather than in the falling limb. This causes the peak of sediment load and pollutants occur during the rising limb of the storm hydrograph. The third and forth sections deal with bed load and suspended load in unsteady flow condition, respectively. Studies show that the methods which are based on steady flow conditions generally underestimate the sediment transport rates in unsteady flows. The larger the unsteadiness, the bigger is the difference. Finally, with considering different findings from previous studies, suggestions are presented for further research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology, No. 424, Hafez Ave., 15914, Tehran, Iran

    M. Karimaee Tabarestani & A. R. Zarrati

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  1. M. Karimaee Tabarestani
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Correspondence to A. R. Zarrati.

Abbreviations

λ

An unsteady parameter

P

An unsteady parameter

Α

An unsteady parameter

η

An unsteady parameter

χ

An unsteady parameter

β

An unsteady parameter

γ

An unsteady parameter

W k

Index of the total flow work done on the movable bed (an unsteady parameter)

Fr u

A form of Froude number (an unsteady parameter)

P gt

An unsteady parameter

y p

Flow depth at the peak of a hydrograph

y b

Flow depth of the base flow of a hydrograph

U p

Flow velocity for peak flow of a hydrograph

U b

Flow velocity for base flow of a hydrograph

Q p

Flow discharge for peak flow of a hydrograph

Q b

Flow discharge for base flow of a hydrograph

Δy

Difference of flow depth between the hydrograph peak flow and the base flow

y

Flow depth

U

Average flow velocity

u

Flow velocity

t

Time

x

Space variable

C

Wave celerity

µ

Water dynamic viscosity

ν

Water kinematic viscosity

ρ

Water density

ρ s

Sediment density

g

Gravitational acceleration

T d

Duration of the hydrograph

T r

Duration of rising limb of a hydrograph

T f

Duration of falling limb of a hydrograph

S 0

Channel bed slope

θ

Channel bed slope angle

u *b

Bed shear velocity associated with the steady base flow before hydrograph passages

u *p

Maximum shear velocity during passage of the hydrograph

u *cr

Critical shear velocity for sediment particle motion

u *un

Shear velocity in unsteady flows

u *s

Shear velocity in steady flows

τ w

Wall shear stress

\(\bar{\tau }_{\text{wr}}\)

Time averaged bed shear stress in the rising limb of a hydrograph

\(\bar{\tau }_{\text{wf}}\)

Time averaged bed shear stress in the falling limb of a hydrograph

d 50

Median diameter of sediment size

q *s

Dimensionless bed load discharge

q s

Average bed load transport rate

Q s

Bed load sediment transport

W uns

Total bed load yield during passage of the hydrograph

\(W_{\text{un}}^{*}\)

Dimensionless bed load yield during passage of the hydrograph

q susun

Suspended sediment discharge per unit width

S e

Energy slope

τ *

Dimensionless average bed shear stress during passage of the hydrograph

τ *c

Critical dimensionless shear stress

V ol

Total volume of water under the hydrograph excluding the base flow

V uns

Sediment transport volume during the passage of a hydrograph

V s

Calculated sediment transport volume for equivalent steady flow

B

Channel width

Fr

Froude number

κ

Von Karman constant

A

Integral constant

B

Damping constant

Re *

Reynolds number based on friction velocity

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Karimaee Tabarestani, M., Zarrati, A.R. Sediment transport during flood event: a review. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 12, 775–788 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-014-0689-6

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