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The aim of this experimental study is to investigate the interaction between turbulent flow and a gravel-bed that mimics the actual roughness structures of a natural bed and its implication on sediment transport. In particular, the response of the Reynolds stresses and the role of intermittency to the bed roughness is the primary focus of the current study. To this end, the flow field, measured with an Acoustic–Doppler Velocimeter (ADV), is thoroughly examined, considering the conditional Reynolds shear stresses and the high-order structure functions of velocity. The study results show that the features and the roughness structure of the water-worked gravel-bed (WWGB) have a strong impact on bursting events. The reason for this is attributed to the flow layer above the crest in the WWGBs being primarily affected by sweep events rather than ejection events, although the latter events are prevalent in this flow layer in an immobile, man-made, gravel-bed. These coherent structures, which are primarily responsible for sediment transport, also are the key cause of the presence of an intermittency excess that breaks the Kolmogorov self-similarity hypothesis, leading to multi-fractal behavior of the velocity structure functions. © 2021 International Research and Training Centre on Erosion and Sedimentation / the World Association for Sedimentation and Erosion Research

World University root node

Civil Engineering

(SoE) School of Engineering

International Journal of Sediment Research

Response of Reynolds stresses and scaling behavior of high-order structure functions to a water-worked gravel-bed surface and its implication on sediment transport

This review article, dedicated to the bicentenary celebration of Sir George Gabriel Stokes’ birthday, presents the state-of-the-science of terminal fall velocity, highlighting his rich legacy from the perspective of fluvial hydraulics. It summarizes the fluid drag on a particle and the current status of the drag coefficient from both the theoretical and empirical formulations, highlighting the three major realms—Stokesian, transitional and Newtonian realms. The force system that drives the particle motion falling through a fluid is described. The response of terminal fall velocity to key factors, which include particle shape, hindered settling, and turbulence (nonlinear drag, vortex trapping, fast-tracking, and effects of loitering), is delineated. The article puts into focus the impact of terminal fall velocity on fluvial hydraulics, discussing the salient role that the terminal fall velocity plays in governing the hydrodynamics of the sediment threshold, bedload transport, and suspended load transport. Finally, an innovative perspective is presented on the subject’s future research track, emphasizing open questions.

Proceedings of the Royal Society A

Terminal fall velocity: the legacy of Stokes from the perspective of fluvial hydraulics

The turbulence characteristics within flows over water-worked gravel beds (WGBs) and screeded gravel beds (SGBs) were examined by measuring the instantaneous flow velocity field using a two-dimensional particle image velocimetry system. To compare the responses of a WGB and an SGB to velocity and various turbulence characteristics, the flow Froude number was kept identical for both the beds that remained immobile. The roughness structures of both the beds were measured using a laser scanner. The results showed that the bed surface roughness was higher in the WGB than in the SGB. However, the longest axis of the gravels of WGBs was oriented streamwise owing to the action of water work, but the gravels of SGBs were randomly poised. The distribution of bed roughness fluctuations was negatively skewed in the WGB and positively skewed in the SGB. Double averaging methodology was applied to analyze the flow parameters. In this paper, the vertical profiles of the double-averaged streamwise velocity and the turbulence parameters, specifically the spatially averaged (SA) Reynolds shear and normal stresses, form-induced shear and normal stresses, turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) and form-induced TKE fluxes, quadrant analysis of SA Reynolds shear stress, etc., are presented and analyzed critically by focusing on comparisons between a WGB and an SGB. A comparative study reveals that in the near-bed flow zone, the SGB underestimates the turbulence parameters compared to the WGB. Therefore, in order to represent the prototypical flow in laboratory, the experiments should be performed in a WGB.