In this study the incipient motion of coarse solitary particles on channel beds having different roughness heights was experimentally investigated. The experiments were conducted in a tilting flume of a rectangular cross-section having a working length of 12 m and a rough bed composed of at least 2 layers of coarse gravel of almost constant size. The roughness material of the channel bed was changed three times. The slope of the channel bed and the discharge are two main parameters that determine the initiation of motion of a given particle. The artificial particles tested in the experiments were obtained by mixing cement and iron dust at certain ratios. Dimensionless hydraulic parameters determined from theoretical analysis were related to each other. Flow depths, velocity profiles were measured and flow conditions that represent the critical conditions of initiation of motion were expressed in terms of critical velocities and shear velocities. The results were compared with the previous studies&rsquo / results.

In this thesis study wind-induced circulation and sediment transport in semi-enclosed basins are carried out for Fethiye Bay. Hydrodynamics of bays are very complex, mainly affected by wind and wave climate, sea bed slope and sediment characteristics. The sea bed profile at the bay changes under winter and summer storms of different speeds and directions. A case study is carried out with the developed methodology. For this reason, Fethiye Bay is selected for the study area. Present structure of Fethiye Bay is determined, sea bed changes since the year 1956 are analyzed. A circulation modeling is applied to the study area. For this purpose, Finite Volume Coastal Ocean Model (FVCOM) numerical model is used. Water exchange and current pattern in the study area for different wind conditions is analyzed. Sediment distribution in the bay is analyzed for different wind directions, river discharges and sediment loads.

No description available.

Laboratory experiments were performed to study and improve longshore sediment transport rate predictions. Measured total longshore transport in the laboratory was approximately three times greater for plunging breakers than spilling breakers. Three distinct zones of longshore transport were observed across the surf zone: the incipient breaker zone, inner surf zone, and swash zone. Transport at incipient breaking was influenced by breaker type; inner surf zone transport was dominated by wave height, independent of wave period; and swash zone transport was dependent on wave period. Selected predictive formulas to compute total load and distributed load transport were compared to laboratory and field data. Equations by Kamphuis (1991) and Madsen et al. (2003) gave consistent total sediment transport estimates for both laboratory and field data. Additionally, the CERC formula predicted measurements well if calibrated and applied to similar breaker types. Each of the distributed load models had shortcomings. The energetics model of Bodge and Dean (1987) was sensitive to fluctuations in energy dissipation and often predicted transport peaks that were not present in the data. The Watanabe (1992) equation, based on time-averaged bottom stress, predicted no transport at most laboratory locations. The Van Rijn (1993) model was comprehensive and required hydrodynamic, bedform, and sediment data. The model estimated the laboratory cross-shore distribution well, but greatly overestimated field transport. Seven models were developed in this study based on the principle that transported sediment is mobilized by the total shear stress acting on the bottom and transported by the current at that location. Shear stress, including the turbulent component, was calculated from the wave orbital velocity. Models 1 through 3 gave good estimates of the transport distribution, but underpredicted the transport peak near the plunging wave breakpoint. A suspension term was included in Models 4 through 7, which improved estimates near breaking for plunging breakers. Models 4, 5 and 7 also compared well to the field measurements. It was concluded that breaker type is an important variable in determining the amount of transport that occurs at a location. Lastly, inclusion of the turbulent component of the orbital velocity is vital in predictive sediment transport equations.

The heavily developed Long Key is located in Pinellas County in west-central Florida. The structured Blind Pass at the north end of the barrier island interrupts the southward longshore sediment transport, resulting in severe and chronic beach erosion along the northern portion of the island. Frequent beach nourishments were conducted to mitigate the erosion. In this study, the performance of the most recent beach nourishment in 2010 is quantified through time-series beach profile surveys. Over the 34-month period, the nourished northern portion of the island, Upham Beach, lost up to 330 m3/m of sand, with a landward shoreline retreat of up to 100 m. The middle portion of the island gained up to 25 m3/m of sand, benefiting from the sand lost from Upham Beach. The southern portion of Long Key lost a modest amount of sediment, largely due to Tropical Storm Debby, which approached from the south in June 2012. The severe erosion along Upham Beach is induced by a large negative longshore transport gradient. The beach here has no sand bar and retreated landward persistently over the 34-month study period. In contrast the profiles in the central section of the island generally have a sand bar which moved landward and seaward in response to seasonal and storm-induced wave-energy changes. The sand volume across the entire profile in the central portion of the island is mostly conserved. Two typical example beach profiles, LK3A and R157, were selected to examine the ability of the commonly used principal component analysis (PCA), also commonly known as empirical orthogonal function analysis (EOF), to identify beach profile ix changes induced by longshore and cross-shore sediment transport gradients. For the longshore-transport driven changes at the non-barred profile LK3A, the principal eigenvector accounted for over 91% of the total variance, with a dominant broad peak in the cross-shore distribution. At the barred R157, the profile changes were caused mainly by cross-shore transport gradients with modest contribution from longshore transport gradient; eigenvalue one only accounted for less than 51% of the total variance, and eigenvalues two and three still contributed considerably to the overall variance. In order to verify the uniqueness of the PCA results from LK3A and R157, five numerical experiments were conducted, simulating changes at a barred and non-barred beach driven by longshore, cross-shore, and combined sediment transport gradients. Results from LK3A and R157 compare well with simulated beach erosion (or accretion) due to variable longshore sediment transport gradients and due to both cross-shore and longshore sediment transport gradients, respectively. Different PCA results were obtained from different profile change patterns.

Understanding specific pathways for sand transport in the lower reaches of large rivers, particularly the Mississippi, is the key to addressing multiple significant geologic problems and for environmental restoration efforts. Field studies were performed in the Mississippi River 75-100 km upstream of the Gulf of Mexico outlet in April 2010 (water discharge: 23,000 m³ s⁻¹), May 2010 (18,500-20,500 m³ s⁻¹), and March 2011 (27,000 m³ s⁻¹) to examine sediment transport phenomena in the river channel. Methods comprised multibeam sonar bathymetric surveys, acoustic Doppler current profiler measurements of current velocity and acoustic backscatter, point-integrated isokinetic suspended sediment sampling, and channel-bed grab sampling. Channel morphology surveys revealed a 30-60 m deep thalweg, alternating between banks every 2-3 km, opposite bedform-covered lateral sand bars. Dune sizes nearest the thalweg ranged from 7 m wavelength and 0.3 m height to over 100 m wavelength and 2.3 m height as a function of water discharge, with decreasing dune sizes towards shallow water. Material comprising the dunes was well-sorted, 125-500 [mu]m sand. Bedload transport rates increased exponentially with water discharge in April 2010 and March 2011 comparable to previous studies in this reach, though rates in May 2011 were well below predicted values for a site (Myrtle Grove) immediately downriver of a sand-mining project. Average water velocities ranged from 1.3 m s⁻¹ in May 2010 to 2 m s⁻¹ in March 2011. Skin-friction shear stress increased with water discharge, but varied over an order of magnitude at all measured discharges. Suspended sand concentration and grain size increased with proximity to the bed during all study periods, and was most pronounced in March 2011. Suspended sand concentrations were greatest over the center of lateral bars, and lowest in the thalweg, indicating that sand transport downstream occurs primarily over lateral sand bars where there is a combination of high shear stress and available bed material. Total bed-material discharge increased exponentially with water discharge. Bedform-induced turbulence may be responsible for the bed material suspension. These results are relevant to coastal restoration efforts by river diversion which seek to distribute sand from the upper water column to deltaic interdistributary wetlands. / text

A key goal of tsunami research is to quantitatively reconstruct flow parameters from paleotsunami deposits in order to better understand the geohazards of coastal areas. These reconstructions rely on grain-size and thickness measurements of tsunami deposits, combined with simple models that allow an inversion from deposit characteristics to wave characteristics. I conducted flume experiments to produce a data set that can be used to evaluate inversion models for tsunami deposition under controlled boundary conditions. Key variables in the flume experiments are sediment grain-size distribution, flow velocity and depth, and depth of water ponded in the flume before the tsunami bore was released. Physical experiments were run in a 32 m-long outdoor flume at The University of Texas at Austin. The flume has a head box with a specialized mechanical lift gate that allows instantaneous release of water to create a bore. Various sediment mixtures (silt to very coarse sand) are introduced to the upstream end of the channel as a low dune positioned just below the lift gate. The bore entrained the sediment mixture, producing an unambiguous suspension-dominated deposit in the downstream half of the channel. Deposits were sampled for grain-size and thickness trends. The experimental results capture characteristics of many recent and paleotsunami deposits, including consistent fining in the transport direction. In addition to overall fining, trends in deposit sorting and coarse (D95) and fine (D10) fractions reveal the importance of sediment-source grain-size distribution on tsunami deposit attributes. / text

published_or_final_version / Civil Engineering / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Particle-laden jets are an important type of multiphase flow which can be found in various natural and technical processes. This study focuses on the flow mechanisms in a horizontally discharging sediment-laden jet that is of particular interest in environmental science and engineering. Experimental techniques and mathematical models are developed to investigate horizontal sediment-laden jets, both for the buoyant and non-buoyant jet discharge cases. In the laboratory, the separation of images of the fluid and the particulate phases is achieved by harnessing light signals of visualization at different wavelengths. Whole field measurements of velocities of the two phases are made by the adoption of particle image velocimetry (PIV) algorithms. Numerical models are developed in two approaches with regard to the treatment of the particulate phase. In the Lagrangian approach, individual sediment particles are tracked while the flow field of the fluid phase is computed with large-eddy simulation (LES). This simulation successfully captures the transient nature of the particle-laden flow. In the Eulerian approach, a two-phase model is used to obtain steady flow simulations in a much shorter computation time. The experimental and numerical results for the horizontal momentum jets show that, at low initial particle concentrations, the sediment particles generally follow the jet flow but with some levels of deficit velocities. In the upper layer of the jet the particles do not follow the fluid flow as well as in its lower layer. More particles are observed in the lower layer than in the upper one. For the momentum-dominated zone of a horizontal buoyant jet, the flow exhibits similar behaviors as the horizontal particle-laden momentum jet, except that there are some slight modifications from the effects of buoyancy. In the bending zone of the buoyant jet, the effects of buoyancy become significant. Notably, the locations of maximum velocity magnitude and those of maximum turbulence intensity are well separated in this zone. A strong correlation of particle abundance and high turbulence intensity is observed in the lower outer jet layer in this bending zone. Significant modifications to the global behaviors of horizontal sediment jets are observed as the particle concentration increases to relatively high levels. The jet trajectories are brought downwards by the particle loads and the jet widths are also increased. For the flow regime being investigated, turbulence intensity in the fluid flow is found to be increased by the presence of sediment particles. The results suggest that turbulence helps suspend sediment particles in horizontally discharging jets. A Stokes number is proposed to represent the ability of particles to follow the fluid flow. It is defined as St=W_s/U_j , where ws is the particle settling velocity in still fluid and Uj is the jet exit velocity, which indirectly governs the turbulence characteristics of the jet flow. The advecting large eddies in a turbulent jet are found to play the role of organizing particles in patches. Interaction and coalescence between particle-concentrated eddies may result in the sudden drop of a group of particles, which contributes to sediments falling from a horizontal jet in the form of particle-rich “fingers”. / published_or_final_version / Civil Engineering / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Sediment-laden turbulent buoyant jets are commonly encountered in the natural and man-made environments. Examples of sediment-laden buoyant jets include volcanic eruptions, deep ocean hydrothermal vents (“black smokers”), ocean dumping of dredged spoils and sludge, and submarine discharge of wastewater effluent. It is important to understand the fluid mechanics of sediment jets for environmental impact assessment, and yet there is currently no general model for predicting the mixing of sediment-laden jets. This study reports a theoretical and experimental investigation the sediment mixing, fall-out and deposition from sediment-laden buoyant jets. It is well known that turbulence generates fluctuations to the particle motion, modulating the particle settling velocity. A general three-dimensional (3D) stochastic particle tracking model is developed to predict the particle settling out and deposition from a sediment-laden jet. Particle velocity fluctuations are modelled by a Lagrangian velocity autocorrelation function that accounts for the loitering and trapping of sediment particles in turbulent eddies which results in the reduction of settling velocity. The model is validated against results of independent experimental studies. Consistent with basic experiments using grid-generated turbulence, the model predicts that the apparent settling velocity can be reduced by as much as 30% of the stillwater settling velocity. The mixing and deposition of sediment-laden horizontal momentum jets are studied using laboratory experiments and 3D computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modelling. It is shown that there is a significant settling velocity reduction up to about 25-35%, dependent on jet turbulent fluctuations and particle properties. The CFD approach necessitates an ad hoc adjustment/reduction on settling velocity and lacks generality. Using classical solutions of mean velocity, and turbulent fluctuation and dissipation rate profiles derived from CFD solutions, 3D particle tracking model predictions of sediment deposition and concentration profiles are in excellent agreement with measured data over a wide range of jet flow and particle properties. Unlike CFD calculations, the present method does not require any a priori adjustment of particle settling velocity. A general particle tracking model for predicting sediment fall-out and deposition from an arbitrarily inclined buoyant jets in stagnant ambient is successfully developed. The model incorporates the three flow regimes affecting the sediment dynamics in a buoyant jet, namely turbulent jet flow, jet entrainment-induced external flow and surface spreading current. The jet mean flow velocity is determined using a well-validated jet integral model. The external jet-induced irrotational flow field is computed by a distribution of point sinks along the jet trajectory. The surface spreading current is predicted using an integral model accounting for the interfacial shear. The model is validated against experimental data of sediment deposition from vertical and horizontal sediment-laden buoyant jets. / published_or_final_version / Civil Engineering / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy