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Incipient sediment motion in vegetated open-channel flows predicted by critical flow velocity

  • Special Column on the 2nd International Symposium of Water Disaster Mitigation and Water Environment Regulation (Guest Editor Hang Wang)
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Abstract

Incipient sediment motion plays a key role in scouring and bed load transport. However, the incipient sediment motion in the vegetated open-channel flows has yet to be fully understood. This study aims to quantify the critical conditions of the sediment particle movement in the presence of emergent and submerged vegetation. A new formula of the critical flow velocity was proposed to predict the incipient sediment motion based on the force balance equation of a sediment particle and the assumption that the velocity distribution in the bed roughness boundary layer fits the logarithmic law. Analysis of the derived formula revealed that the critical flow velocity for incipient sediment motion decreases with the increase in vegetation density. The proposed formula agrees well with the experimental data in the literature, thereby implying that the critical flow velocity can effectively quantify the incipient sediment motion in the vegetated open channel flows.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Water Resources and Hydropower Engineering Science, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, China

    Xiang Wang, Zhong-hua Yang & Wen-xin Huai

  2. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA

    Shuolin Li

  3. Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Science, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA

    Shuolin Li

Authors
  1. Xiang Wang
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  2. Shuolin Li
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  3. Zhong-hua Yang
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  4. Wen-xin Huai
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Wen-xin Huai.

Additional information

Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 52020105006, 11872285).

Biography

Xiang Wang (1995-), Male, Ph. D. Candidate

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Wang, X., Li, S., Yang, Zh. et al. Incipient sediment motion in vegetated open-channel flows predicted by critical flow velocity. J Hydrodyn 34, 63–68 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42241-022-0006-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42241-022-0006-7

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