Flow and Sediment Transport at Confluence Point

By

Arkaprabha Sarkar B.Sc. (H) Geology 3rd Year

Fundamentals
Streams A and B are meeting at confluence point giving rise to resultant stream C. 3 streams have 3 distinct values of channel cross section area, velocity and hence, discharge Discharge in C is the combined discharge of A and B

Basic Parameters
Discharge Ratio Qr = Qmajor /Qminor

Junction Angle =

Bed Morphology
Presence of a deep scour in the middle of the confluence. Depth of the scour can reach up to 4 times the average depth of the joining channels. Scour depth is controlled by the discharge ratio and the joining angle. Scour depth (ds )is a ratio of the maximum depth of the scour to the average depth of the joining channels.
ds = d/[(dmajor + dminor )/2)
Maximum depth of scour
1.52 1.03

0.52

Confluence angle

Scour

Flow Characteristics

Helicoidal flow cells

Conceptual Model

Thank you