CHAPTER FOUR: SEDIMENT TRANSPORT IN OPEN CHANNEL

Tesfaye B.
 Sediment Transport
o Sediment: fragment materials. This include gravel, sand and silt.
✓ It does not include ice, OM, wood.
o Sediment transport: water flowing in natural streams/rivers have
the ability to: scour, carry particles and deposit.
o This processes of changing bed of the channel is called
sediment transport.
o Economic importance of sediment transport:
✓ Predict the risks of scouring of bridges, weir, etc.
✓ Estimate siltation of a reservoir
✓ Predict change in bed of the channels.
o Channel can be classified as rigid and mobile boundary channel.
o Rigid channels are those in which the boundary is not
changeable. This indicates change in discharge does not result in
change in channel geometry, roughness, form, shape, etc.
 Sediment Transport
✓ The theory of rigid boundary channels (i.e. best hydraulic
section) is used for design of such channel.
o Mobile channels: When the boundary of the channel is mobile
and flow carries considerable amounts of sediment: suspension
and the bed load.
✓ This indicates change in discharge does result in change in
channel geometry, roughness, form, shape, etc.
✓ The theory of rigid boundary channels (i.e. best hydraulic
section) is not applicable to mobile channel.
 Sediment (particle) Properties [1]
1. Diameter (d):
 Sediment (particle) Properties [2]
2. Specific gravity (𝑮𝒔 ): Let 𝝆𝒔 =particle density, 𝝆𝒘 =Density of
Water 𝜌𝑠
𝐺𝑠 = kg kg Gs ≅ 2.650
𝝆𝒔 ≅ 2650 3 𝝆𝒘 ≅ 1000 3
𝜌𝑤 m m

3. Settling velocity(𝑽𝒔 ): the terminal velocity in still fluid.

4 𝐺𝑠 − 1 𝑔𝑑 Stokes’ law for the force on

𝑉𝑠 = spherical particles at small
3 𝐶𝑑
Reynolds number

𝟐𝟒
𝑪𝒅 = 𝑹𝑵 =
𝑽𝒔 𝒅
<𝟏
Only valid for very small spherical
𝑹𝑵 𝒗 particles (𝒅 < 𝟎. 𝟏𝒎𝒎)
1 (Gs −1)g 𝑑 3
𝑉𝑠 = Settling velocity is to determine
18 v2
whether suspended load occurs or not.
 Sediment (particle) Properties [3]
4. Porosity (𝜼): Let 𝑽𝒗 =volume of void, 𝑽𝑻 =Total volume
𝑉𝑣 ➢ Important in modelling changes to bed
𝜂=
𝑉𝑡 morphology and the leaching of pollutants
through the bed
5. Angle of Response(𝝓): the maximum angle (to the horizontal)
which a pile of sediment may adopt before it begins to slide
𝑚𝑔𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜙 = 𝜇𝑓 (𝑚𝑔𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜙)
𝜇𝑓 = 𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜙
𝜇𝑓 be used to estimate the effect
of gravitational assistance on
sloping beds.
 Flow Properties [1]
o The bed shear stress (𝝉𝒃 ): the drag force per unit area on the
granular bed.
➢ It is resulting in settling the sediment in
motion.

1. Friction velocity(𝒖𝒔 )

𝜏𝑏 = 𝜌𝑤 𝑢𝑠2

𝜏𝑏
𝑢𝑠 =
𝜌𝑤
 Inception motion of sediment [1]
o When the shear force exerted by the flowing water on a particle
will just exceed the force opposing the movement of the particle.
✓ At this stage, a few particles on the bed move intermittently.
o The knowledge of inception motion (critical condition) is used:
✓ to fix slope or depth for clear water flow in an alluvial
channel.
✓ Calculation of sediment load
o There are three method for the investigation of critical condition
(inception motion):
1. Competent velocity approach: the mean velocity of flow which
causes a particle to move.
2. Lift force approach: when the lift force exerted by the flow on a
particle just exceeds submerged weight of the particle-inception
motion.
3. Critical tractive force approach: the drag force exerted on the
channel bed which is responsible for the motion of particles.
 Critical Tractive (Shear) Stress [1]
o Of these three approaches, the critical tractive force approach is
considered most logical and is most often used by hydraulic
engineers.
o The critical tractive (or shear) stress is the average shear
stress acting on the bed of a channel at which the sediment
particles just begin to move.
o Shields was the first investigator and states that a particle begins
to move the fluid drag ( 𝐹𝑑 ) on the particle overcomes the
particle resistance (𝐹𝑅 ).
o The non-dimensional stress is called the Shields parameter
(𝜏𝑐∗ /𝜃)
𝜏𝑐 𝜏𝑐∗ = 𝑓(𝑅 ∗ )
𝜏𝑐∗ =
(𝜌𝑠 −𝜌𝑤 )𝑔𝑑
𝑅∗ =Particles Reynolds number
 Critical Tractive (Shear) Stress [2]

o For specific case of water (at 20o C) and the sediment of

specific gravity of 2.65.
𝜏𝑐 = 0.155 +
0.409𝑑 2 𝑁
1 + 0.177𝑑 2 𝜏𝑐 2
𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑑 = 𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟 (𝑚𝑚)
𝑚
 Design of stable channel[2]
o Stable channel:
✓ Neither scouring nor deposition of sediment occurs.
✓ The required discharge pass at the design discharge
o The two types of canal design considered in this chapter are:
1. Lined or non-erodible canal
2. Unlined/ Earthen/ Erodible channel
o Channel design considerations:
✓ Channel geometry
✓ Capacity: Demand + Loss in the system
✓ Permissible velocity
✓ Free board
✓ Side slopes: stable side slope-soil types.
 Design of Lined canal [2]
o Lined channels are built for five primary purposes:
✓ To permit the transmission of water at high velocities in a
cost effective manner;
✓ To decrease canal seepage losses
✓ To reduce the annual cost of operation and maintenance;
✓ To ensure the stability of the channel section.
 Procedures for Design of Lined canal [2]
1. Estimate roughness coefficient (C, N) for specified lining
material;
2. Compute the value of section factor
2 𝑄𝑛
𝐴𝑅 3 =
𝑆0
3. Considering hydraulically efficient channel sections, determine
channel dimensions with the assumptions regarding side slopes.
4. Check the Froude number is less than 1. i.e., flow is subcritical
flow
5. Estimate the required free board.
6. Summarize the results with sketch.

𝐹𝑏 = 0.25𝑦