Spearman, J. and Manning, A.J. and Whitehouse, R.J.S. (2011) The settling dynamics of flocculating mud-sand mixtures: Part 2 - Numerical modelling. Ocean Dynamics, 61 (2-3). pp. 237-253.
Full text not available from this repository.Abstract
When natural muds become mixed with sandy sediments in estuaries, it has a direct effect on the flocculation process and resultant sediment transport regime. Much research has been completed on the erosion and consolidation of mud/sand mixtures, but very little is known quantitatively about how mixed sediments interact whilst in suspension, particularly in terms of flocculation. This paper presents the settling velocity findings from a recent laboratory study which examined the flocculation dynamics for three different mud/sand mixtures at different concentrations (0.2–5 g.l−1) and turbulent shear stresses (0.06–0.9 Pa) in a mini-annular flume. The low intrusive video-based Laboratory Spectral Flocculation Characteristics instrument was used to determine floc/aggregate properties (e.g., size, settling velocity, density and mass) for each population. Settling data was assessed in terms of macrofloc (>160 μm) and microfloc (<160 μm) settling parameters: Wsmacro and Wsmicro, respectively. For pure muds, the macroflocs are regarded as the most dominant contributors to the total depositional flux. The parameterised settling data indicates that by adding more sand to a mud/sand mixture, the fall velocity of the macrofloc fraction slows and the settling velocity of microflocs quickens. Generally, a mainly sandy suspension comprising 25% mud and 75% sand (25M:75S), will produce resultant Wsmacro which are slower than Wsmicro. The quickest Wsmicro appears to consistently occur at a higher level of turbulent shear stress (τ ∼ 0.6 Pa) than both the macrofloc and microfloc fractions from suspensions of pure natural muds. Flocculation within a more cohesively dominant muddy-sand suspension (i.e., 75M:25S) produced macroflocs which fell at similar speeds (±10%) to pure mud suspensions at both low (200 mg l−1) and intermediate (1 g l−1) concentrations at all shear stress increments. Also, low sand content suspensions produced Wsmacro values that were faster than the Wsmicro rates. In summary, the experimental results of the macrofloc and microfloc settling velocities have demonstrated that flocculation is an extremely important factor with regards to the depositional behaviour of mud/sand mixtures, and these factors must be considered when modelling mixed sediment transport in the estuarine or marine environment.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Subjects: | Maritime > General Coasts > Sediment transport and scour |
| Divisions: | Coastal |
| Depositing User: | Unnamed user with email i.services@hrwallingford.com |
| Date Deposited: | 02 Apr 2020 09:49 |
| Last Modified: | 29 May 2020 09:35 |
| URI: | http://eprints.hrwallingford.com/id/eprint/818 |
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