Numerical modelling of non-equilibrium graded sediment transport in a curved open channel

Abstract: The computer code FAST3D has been developed to calculate flow and sediment transport in open channels. In the code, the flow field is calculated by solving the full Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations with k–ε turbulence model; the bed-load transport is simulated with a non-equilibrium model containing an important parameter, the so-called non-equilibrium adaptation length, which characterizes the distance for sediment to adjust from a non-equilibrium state to an equilibrium state; the bed deformation is obtained from an overall mass-balance equation for sediment transport. The governing equations are solved numerically with a finite volume method on an adaptive, non-staggered grid. The former model assumed uniform bed material. In order to take into account the influence of grain-size distribution of the bed-surface on the evolution of the bed topography and consequently also on the flow field, a sediment transport module has been presently developed by the authors at the Institute of Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering, Technische Universität München, Germany, for fractional sediment transport using a multiple layer model. This paper presents the numerical results for sediment sorting and the bed deformation in a curved alluvial channel under unsteady-flow conditions according to . The calculations were compared with data from laboratory measurements. Further, the sensitivity of the simulated results to the non-equilibrium adaptation length is investigated. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]