Experiments on alluvial friction

Shiqiang, W. and White, W.R. and Bettess, R. (1986) Experiments on alluvial friction. Technical Report. Hydraulics Research Wallingford.

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Abstract

During the design of engineering works on rivers or canals it is frequently necessary to calculate the flow of sediment transport. To calculate these quantities the frictional energy-losses on the boundary of the channel must be determined. This is particularly difficult for alluvial channels as the frictional losses are related to the size and shape of the bed features such as dunes or ripples that are developed on the bed of the channel and these features vary as the water flow varies. Laboratory experiments are described in this report in which alluvial friction was measured for steady-state flows over sand beds. The observed bed forms are correlated with values of the dimensionless unit stream power. It is shown that the value of the dimensionless unit stream power can be used to determine the nature of the bed form and in particular whether the flow corresponds to upper or lower regime.

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