Received: 14 January 2020 Revised: 11 May 2020
DOI: 10.1002/rra.3671
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Investigating the turbulent flow behaviour through partially
distributed discontinuous rigid vegetation in an open channel
Naveed Anjum1 | Norio Tanaka1,2
1
Graduate School of Science and Engineering,
Saitama University, Saitama, Japan
2
International Institute for Resilient Society,
Saitama University, Saitama, Japan
Correspondence
Professor Norio Tanaka, Graduate School of
Science and Engineering, Saitama University,
255 Shimo-okubo, Sakura-ku, Saitama-shi,
Saitama 338-8570, Japan.
Email: tanaka01@mail.saitama-u.ac.jp
River Res Applic. 2020;36:1701–1716.
Accepted: 2 June 2020
Abstract
Riparian vegetation does not only affect the channel flow carrying capacity, but also
plays significant roles in water management, stream restoration, and river rehabilita-
tion. This study numerically investigates the flow characteristics through longitudi-
nally discontinuous rigid vegetation occupying half width of the channel, with the
help of three-dimensional software FLUENT in which a Reynolds stress turbulence
model was adopted. Three varying conditions of vegetation were considered com-
prising of vertically double-layered vegetation (DLV), submerged vegetation (SV), and
emergent vegetation (EV) while keeping the same vegetation density, as well as a
varying discharge condition against DLV was also tested. The results indicated that
the flow distribution becomes more complex through DLV and SV followed by multi-
ple layers with an inflectional instability in the vertical velocity profile around sub-
merged canopy top, as compared to the flow through EV where the uniform
distribution of flow over the canopy column was observed. The velocity in the can-
opy zone decreased considerably because of the resistance due to vegetation, which
influenced the channel carrying capacity, in comparison to that in the non-vegetated
zone. The flow velocities through the obstructed part of the channel, that is, canopy
zone, in DLV arrangement reduced by a percentage difference of approximately
42 and 37% compared to that of SV and EV arrangements, respectively; whereas it
was reduced by approximately 55% when the discharge was twice while keeping the
same configuration of DLV. The inflectional instabilities and estimated mixing layer
over the interfacial zone suggested a stronger lateral exchange of momentum for
DLV configuration in comparison to that of SV and EV. Within the gaps between the
patch zones, the flow velocity, turbulent kinetic energy, and turbulent intensity
reduced significantly due to blockage effect and sheltering offered by the vegetation
patches, signifying a positive flow response towards aquatic life and sediment
deposition.
KEYWORDS
discontinuous vegetation, flow characteristics, flow instability, numerical modelling, partial
obstruction
wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/rra © 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd 1701
1702
1 | I N T RO DU CT I O N
Vegetation plays a significant part in affecting the flow turbulence of
a river (Nepf, 2012). Previously, the presence of vegetation in natural
rivers was considered as a nuisance as it affects the flow carrying
capacity of the channel (Kouwen & Unny, 1975). However, the signifi-
cance of such vegetation has been highlighted by the recent river
management as it in has great practical value in ecological engineering
perspective and restoration of rivers. It also supports biodiversity as it
provides habitat and food for the growth of aquatic life (Stoesser,
Neary, & Wilson, 2005; Wu & He, 2009). The influence of riparian
vegetation on flow as well as ecological processes in rivers has
become progressively significant in flood risks, river restoration, and
aquatic ecological management (Bauer, Harzer, Strobl,
Kollmann, 2018; Javernick & Bertoldi, 2019; Seer, Brunke, &
Schrautzer, 2018). Among the hydraulic characteristics of flows with
vegetation in open channels, the velocity dissemination has been
widely studied, since it is pertinent to simulate flow patterns and dis-
charge. In recent times, the flows around partly distributed vegetation
in an open channel has gain larger consideration, due to the reason
that such partial vegetation distribution can be found in wetlands and
floodplains. A strong momentum exchange takes place among the
vegetation and non-vegetation regions in river flows with partial veg-
etation distribution (Nezu & Onitsuka, 2001; Rominger & Nepf, 2011;
White & Nepf, 2008). However, the flow structures of such natural
rivers (having partly placed vegetation) are strongly influenced and
become more complex.
Numerical investigations have also been reported for partly vege-
tated open channel flows. Su and Li (2002) and Huai, Xue, and
Qian (2015) adopted a large-eddy simulation (LES) technique to
observe the coherent structures across the partially distributed can-
opy interface. Choi and Kang (2006) implemented a Reynolds stress
model (RSM) to replicate the turbulent flow structure in a large-aspect
ratio channel with partly placed submerged vegetation (SV). Several
previous researchers implemented flow simulation techniques through
a uniform array of vegetation to simulate the turbulent flow (Cui &
Neary, 2008; Ghani, Anjum, Pasha, & Ahmad, 2019; Lopez &
Garcia, 2001; Neary, 2003). The numerical studies on investigating
the flow structures in vegetated open channels utilizing CFD tool
FLUENT have also been reported (Anjum & Tanaka, 2020; Lima,
Janzen, & Nepf, 2015). However, in riparian environments or flood
plains of several natural rivers, finite length vegetation can occur as
partial distribution, with submerged as well as emergent condition of
constant vegetation heights (Devi & Kumar, 2016; Devi, Sharma, &
Kumar, 2019). Sometimes the vegetation with varying heights (Huai,
Wang, Hu, Zeng, & Yang, 2014; Liu, Diplas, Hodges,
Fairbanks, 2010), that is, vertically double layered with short vegeta-
tion such as shrubs and grasses are submerged due to flood, whereas
the tall vegetation such as trees remains non-submerged. Most of the
previous researches studied the vegetated flows with the same vege-
tation height, which is not the true representation of natural rivers.
Only a few studies are focusing on flows with a mixed culture of short
ANJUM AND TANAKA
and tall vegetation (Hamed, Sadowski, Nepf, & Chamorro, 2017; Liu
et al., 2010) with either in submerged or emerged flow state. It is,
therefore, necessary to consider the effects of both short and tall veg-
etation in combination, which makes the flow patterns more complex,
in order to properly replicate the riparian environment. Thus, the
interaction of flow with such vegetation patterns, that is, partially dis-
tributed, in an open channel may lead to the generation of complex
flow structure which is three dimensional.
In addition, the study of natural waterways shows that the vege-
tation in open channels is usually longitudinally discontinuous
(Tanaka & Ohmoto, 2015; Tanaka, Ohmoto, & Tanaka, 2008). In real
scenarios, however, riparian vegetation is not often continuous.
Rather, vegetation communities are usually patchy, with open spaces,
& due to the reason of seasonal variation (Yang, Irish, &
Socolofsky, 2015). The effect of such patch type vegetation on flow
structures in an open channel is not well understood. Folkard (2005)
and Okamoto and Nezu (2013) clarified the turbulence flow structure
behind discontinuous vegetation through experimental investigation.
Zhao and Huai (2016) adopted LES method to investigate the hydro-
dynamics of flows through discontinuous vegetation. Previous studies
have been discussed separately; however, the studies elucidating the
influence of different vegetation formations and their submergence
while keeping the same vegetation density in the pattern of discontin-
uous and partly distributed in open channel flows are limited.
Although some of the flow structures through only double-layered
vegetation (DLV) configuration with a variety of patterns have been
numerically clarified by Anjum and Tanaka (2020), the investigations
of the turbulent flow behaviours through double-layered and single-
layered vegetation (with both submerged and emergent conditions)
while keeping the constant vegetation density is still limited. The flow
mechanism (demonstrating the comparison) around partially distrib-
uted discontinued homogenous (constant formation) and heteroge-
neous (varying heights) vegetation would give an extra understanding
of the riparian environment and a clear idea of true representation of
the vegetal communities along the natural river flows. Moreover, the
flow structure around such kind of discontinued and layered canopy
becomes complicated, which is very difficult to clarify and capture
through experimental investigation (Zhao & Huai, 2016). Thus, the
present numerical study overcomes this problem by demonstrating a
clear flow mechanism around such novel kind of vegetation patterns.
The purpose of this study is to numerically clarify the complex 3D
flow structures through longitudinally discontinuous and partly dis-
tributed vegetation in a rectangular open channel. Three vegetation
conditions, that is, submerged condition of vegetation with constant
formation, emergent condition of vegetation with constant formation,
& and vertically DLV configuration with short vegetation submerged
and tall vegetation emergent, are considered in this study. In addition,
a discharge parameter against DLV case has also been varied while
keeping both the mixed array of short and tall vegetation submerged
in order to replicate the high flow response against such configura-
tion. The primary objective of these numerical experiments is to clar-
ify the resulting flow structure due to the varying condition of
ANJUM AND TANAKA 1703

vegetation configuration and submergence by keeping the same vege- turbulence, is examined. The flow characteristics measurement at var-
tation density. The simulations are carried out by a CFD tool FLUENT ious positions and sections are taken in order to elucidate the turbu-
by adopting a Reynolds stress turbulence model. The influence of lence structure as the flow moves through the considered vegetation
novel vegetation configuration, particularly on the flow velocity and configuration.

F I G U R E 1 Schematic diagrams of
computational domain (a) top view of
domain showing vegetation arrangement
and specified positions and sections, and
(b–e) vertical section view for Case A,
B, C, and D, respectively. The dashed lines
(in red) shows the sections, whereas the
dots (in red) shows the specified locations
for the flow structure investigation
[Colour figure can be viewed at
wileyonlinelibrary.com]
1704 ANJUM AND TANAKA

2 | MATERIALS AND METHODS

T A B L E 1 Hydraulic parameters, where hs and ht are the shorter and taller vegetation heights, Ss/d and St/d are the short (staggered) and tall (staggered) vegetation spacings, Q is the discharge, H

1,900

2,670
Re*

-
-
2.1 | Modelling setup and boundary conditions

37,800

75,240
A 1.5 m long and 0.3 m wide computational domain was modelled.

Re

-
-
The domain comprised of partly distributed (covering half the width
of the domain) and longitudinally discontinued rigid vegetation

0.27

0.32
(Figure 1a). The vegetation arrangements of vertically double-layered

Fr

-
-
configuration, and single-layered configuration with submerged as
well as the emergent condition were considered in this study as pres-

U (m/s)

0.42
ented in Figure 1b–e. The x-axis, y-axis, and z-axis indicate longitudi-

0.3
-
-
nal, lateral, and vertical directions, respectively. The vegetation was
modelled as rigid circular cylinders. The layered vegetation configura-

H (cm)
12.66
tion of Liu et al. (2010) was adopted. The short and tall cylinders

is the flow depth, U is the initial average velocity, Fr is the Froude number, Re is the flow Reynolds number, and Re* is the cylinder Reynolds number

18
(diameter ‘d’ of 0.635 cm) were 7.6 and 15.2 cm long, respectively.

-
-
The hydraulic conditions for the four cases (Case A, B, C, and D) are

Aspect ratio (Lv/Lg)

presented in Table 1.
The schematic diagram (top and vertical views) for the modelled
computational domains showing vegetation arrangement is pres-
ented in Figure 1. Two longitudinal sections (LS1 and LS2), that is,
one passing in between the gap of short and tall cylinders (to avoid

1
-
-
-
the significant effect of the cylinder wake), and the other passing
directly through short and tall vegetation arrays (to elucidate the

Q (×10−3 m3/s)
direct influence of vegetation) were adopted. Two cross-sections (C1
and C2) passing through the middle of the last vegetation gap and

11.4

22.8
patch were also considered for investigating the flow structures.

-
-
Moreover, seven important locations, that is, x1–x7, (located in the
centre of patches and gaps) were also investigated for the vertical

N/A
St/d
10

10
flow distribution.

5
A tri-pave mesh with 150 × 150 × 60 nodes in longitudinal, lat-
eral, and vertical directions, respectively, was adopted for the mod-

N/A
Ss/d
5
5

5
elled domain, which gave approximately 1.35 million grid points. This
small computational domain was adopted to reduce the mesh struc-
ture and computational time as well as cost. The unstructured mesh Short submerged, tall submerged
Short submerged, tall emergent

with tetrahedral cells (having triangular faces) used in this study is

Submergence condition

presented in Figure 2a. The local mesh around the vegetation cylin-
ders was refined in order to ensure computational accuracy. This
mesh refinement (mainly within the vicinity of the cylinder) was per-
formed so that the cylinder boundaries could be identified. A trial for
Submerged
Emergent

grid independency was also run to get the quality simulation results.
The mesh grids of 0.2 million (relatively coarser), 1.35 million (fine),
and 2.4 million (finer) were tested initially. The difference in the depth
averaged velocities across the cross-section (C2) amongst the coarse
Staggered

Staggered
Staggered
Vegetation arrangement

and fine grids was around 5%; however, the variation in results by
N/A

more refinement was around 1% which was not noteworthy

Tall

(Figure 2b). Thus, the fine mesh with 1.35 million grids was adopted.
The velocity values in case of coarse grid are observed to be slightly
Staggered
Staggered

Staggered

higher as compared to those of medium and fine grid. This may be

Short

due to the reason that a coarse mesh could not easily identify the
N/A

boundaries of small barriers like vegetation cylinders, and the resis-

tance or drag offered by these structures may not have been clearly
Case

estimated; and thus, have consequently resulted in comparatively

D
A

C
B

larger flow velocity magnitudes. Whereas, a fine mesh (refinement

ANJUM AND TANAKA
F I G U R E 2 (a) Computational
grid on x–y plane of the domain,
where the zoomed part shows the
local mesh around the vegetation
cylinder vicinity, (b) Depth averaged
velocity along the cross-section (C2)
for mesh independence trial (Case
A). The dashed line shows the
interface between the canopy zone
and free zone [Colour figure can be
viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]
approach, especially around the vicinity of the cylinders) overcomes
this problem by predicting a reasonable flow structure, and ensures
computational accuracy (Stoesser, Liang, Rodi, & Jirka, 2006).
The boundary conditions that were adopted in the model are:
(a) periodic boundary condition at inlet/outlet of the domain to
achieve the uniform flow conditions (translational periodicity), which
is adopted when the geometry of concern and the probable flow pat-
tern has a reiterating nature; (b) symmetry condition at free surface
(which allows the flow surface to become flat), as has been
implemented by several researchers (Lima et al., 2015; Zhao &
Huai, 2016) in their vegetated flow modeling studies; and (c) wall
boundary with the non-slip condition at adjacent walls, domain bed,
and the cylinder walls. The simulation and post-processing were car-
ried in a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) tool FLUENT. For the
closure of turbulence, RSM was adopted. The SIMPLE algorithm was
adopted for achieving the pressure–velocity coupling. The standard
wall function with a near wall treatment was applied, which is needed
to better predict the flow in the boundary layer. The standard wall
functions are appropriate for a wide variety of turbulent flows. The
dimensionless wall distance (y+) values in the considered mesh ranged
between 30 < y+ <100, which was observed to be reasonable for the
applicability of the wall function (Versteeg & Malalasekera, 2008). The
default (standard) values of under-relaxation factors, that is,
1705
pressure = 0.3, momentum = 0.7, turbulent kinetic energy = 0.8, tur-
bulent dissipation rate = 0.8, and Reynolds stresses = 0.5, were uti-
lized in the simulation process. In FLUENT (ANSYS), the standard
under-relaxation parameters for all the variables are set to values that
are near optimum for maximum type of flows. The solution was con-
sidered to be converged when all the residuals reached below
1 × 10−5. With further iterations, the residuals were not changing,
and the solution with primary flow velocity was also checked, which
was no longer noticeably changed with the subsequent iterations.
Thus, using these criteria, it was assumed that the solution had
reached a steady state. The governing equations and the turbulence
model details can be seen from the FLUENT user's guide (2019;
Versteeg & Malalasekera, 2008).
2.2 | Validation of numerical model
The validation of the numerical model was performed with the data of
Liu et al. (2010). They conducted flume experiments for investigating
the flow hydrodynamics through DLV in a 4.3 m long and 0.3 m wide
open channel. The rigid layered vegetation, that is, tall (15.2 cm) and
short (5.1 cm), with a d of 0.635 cm, was mounted on the channel
bed, at 1.3 m distance from the inlet. The cylinders were organized in
1706
a staggered pattern with Ss/d = 5 and St/d = 10 (where Ss is the spac-
ing between the short layer cylinders and St is the spacing between
the tall cylinders), respectively. The mean flow was measured with a
1-D Laser Doppler Velocimetry (LDV) system. The flow rate and the
flow depth were 0.0114 m3/s and 0.1212 m, respectively.
ANJUM AND TANAKA
F I G U R E 3 Experimental setup (Liu
et al., 2010) and validation of the
numerical model (a) top view of modelled
domain showing vegetation arrangement
and specified positions (in red colour),
(b) isometric view of domain, and
(c) comparison of experimental and
numerical results [Colour figure can be
viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]
The domain modelled for computation comprised of periodic
length of the vegetation arrangement (Figure 3a,b). The simulated
results of turbulent intensity at the given locations were compared
with those of experimental data (Figure 3c). The x-axis displays the
longitudinal turbulent intensity (urms), while the y-axis displays the
ANJUM AND TANAKA 1707

flow depth. The results indicate that the turbulent intensity in the zone
directly downstream of tall vegetation (Location 1) is very high due to
large flow resistance. Moreover, the intensity in the free zone (Location
2) is comparatively lower than in the zones right downstream and
upstream of the vegetation (Locations 1 and 3). The experimental and
numerical results illustrate a close agreement, which confirmed the
validity of the numerical model. However, an insignificant dissimilarity
(an average of approximately 3%) in the experimental and numerical
results occurred, which may be due to the simplifications in modelling
or unavoidable measurement error of LDV.

F I G U R E 4 Vertical distribution of mean stream-wise velocity at specified locations for (a) Case A, (b) Case B, (c) Case C, and (d) Case D. For
the locations, see Figure 1a,c,d. The horizontal dotted line shows the top of shorter submerged vegetation, whereas the horizontal dashed line
shows the top of tall emergent vegetation. (e) Schematic diagram of the velocity structure for the considered vegetation configurations [Colour
figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]
1708
3 | RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
3.1 | Mean flow characteristics
3.1.1 | Vertical distribution of velocity
The vertical distribution of stream-wise velocity at specified locations is
presented in Figure 4a–d. The mean stream-wise velocity was made
dimensionless with reference to the initial average velocity ‘U’. The
velocities are reduced to minimum close to the bed zone because of the
channel bed resistance. The depth integrated flow velocities in the gap
zones, that is, locations x2, x4, and x6, are reduced by a percentage differ-
ence of 21, 6, 25, and 4% as compared to their following patch zones
that is, locations x3, x5, and x7, for Case A, B, C, and D, respectively. For
the first patch location, that is, x1, the profiles show relatively larger
velocities within the height of short vegetation zone (which is affected
more in DLV configuration). This profile may exist because the drag influ-
ence of individual vegetation structures on the flow has not significantly
outspread (in the leading patch) to interact with the effects of other veg-
etation structures. Such zone is named as intrusion zone, as has also
been discussed by Zeng and Li (2014) and Zhao and Huai (2016), after
which the velocity is reduced within the short vegetation height, that is,
for locations x2–x7. A noteworthy difference in velocity magnitudes
between the lower canopy layer and upper canopy layer can be
observed in cases of DLV, that is, Case A and D (Figure 4a,d). The veloc-
ity magnitudes are low in lower canopy layer, for the locations x3–x7,
which began to rise near the top of short vegetation and showed slightly
increasing trends towards the flow surface. The higher velocities above
the short vegetation indicate faster flow due to the sparse arrangement
of tall vegetation layer. Moreover, for both the patch as well as the gap
zones, the non-dimensional velocity magnitudes relatively decreased
within the short vegetation height, as the flow travelled further down-
stream, whereas the trend is opposite in the overlying flow, indicating
that the flow develops and becomes stable farther away from the leading
patch. Whereas, the velocity magnitudes are reduced within the vegeta-
tion canopy, followed by a steep gradient of velocity over the canopy
top in case of SV only (Case B). The velocity within the canopy layer in
SV case (Figure 4b) varied significantly with respect to the locations, that
is, decreased as the flow travelled further downstream from the leading
patch. While a stronger rise in velocity is observed above the short vege-
tation height, followed by a logarithmic profile distribution in this region
due to absence of the vegetation drag, where the profiles obtained the
similar trend, that is, no difference in magnitudes at all the locations. This
is similar to the findings reported by Lopez and Garcia (2001) and
Righetti and Armanini (2002). On the contrary, the velocity profiles are
almost constant above the bed zone towards the flow surface at almost
all the locations for emergent vegetation (EV) configuration (Case C:
Figure 4c). Furthermore, the velocity near the flow surface slightly
decreased (especially for the locations x2, x3, x4, and x5), which may be
due to the reason of external drag offered by the emerged vegetation
structures. The velocity profiles showed twice increments, that is, around
the top of both short and tall vegetation, in case of higher discharge
value where both configurations were submerged (Case D). The
ANJUM AND TANAKA
velocities in the lower canopy layer also significantly reduced in DLV
configuration of fully submerged state, whereas the magnitudes
increased in the upper canopy layer due to sparser arrangement of vege-
tation. While further moving towards the flow surface, that is, above the
upper canopy layer, the velocity is relatively higher and almost constant
for different locations due to no vegetation drag in this logarithmic layer.
In general, with a constant vegetation density, the velocities in
the canopy zone (patch as well as gap zones) of DLV arrangement
(while keeping short vegetation submerged and tall emerged; Case A)
are reduced by a percentage difference of approximately 42, 37, and
55% as compared to that of SV arrangement (Case B), EV arrange-
ment (Case C), and DLV arrangement (while keeping both short and
tall vegetation submerged; Case D), respectively. Whereas, the flow
velocities are reduced by a percentage difference of 7% in the case of
EV (Case C) as compared to that of case SV (Case B).
Velocity structure scheme
The flow is observed to be developing in the leading patch for almost
all the cases. However, the flow developed after passing through the
first patch of vegetation and achieved an equilibrium state in almost all
the considered configurations. The schematic diagram for the velocity
profile structure of vertical distribution through the DLV, SV, and EV
after achieving the developed state is represented in Figure 4e. The
sketch describes the general idea of the vegetated flow over vertically
double-layered and single-layered (submerged as well as emergent)
rigid vegetation along with the flow depth for the particular vegetation
arrangement. The velocity profile in SV conditions (Case A, B, and D)
seems to be complex due to inflection around the boundary layer.
Thus, multiple layers, that is, low velocity zone within the height of
short vegetation, inflection zone around the top boundary of SV, and
high velocity zone above the short vegetation height, exist in the
velocity profile through DLV and SV. This indicates a similarity with
the velocity profiles found by previous researcher (Huai et al., 2014;
Singh, Rahimi, & Tang, 2019). The velocity structure scheme through
DLV (Case A) shows that the mixing layer region due to inflection
nearby the top of short vegetation layer is limited because of the
external drag by the tall vegetation layer, which results in reduced
sharpness of velocity gradient over this region of flow. However; on
the contrary, the velocity profile experiences a steep sharpness over
the mixing layer region in SV configuration (Case B) due to the absence
of external drag by tall vegetation layer, which increases the length of
mixing layer, that is, approximately twice to that of DLV case.
Whereas, an almost constant spatial vertical distribution of velocity
results in case of EV (Case C) due to constant drag offered by the only
tall vegetation with emerged condition, signifying a uniform flow distri-
bution within the canopy column. Similar results were found by the
past researchers (Nepf & Vivoni, 2000; Tsujimoto, Shimizu, Kitamura, &
Okada, 1992). Moreover, when the discharge was high that is, both
short and tall vegetation were submerged (Case D), the mixing layer
around the upper canopy top became slightly higher as compared to
the lower canopy top. Hence, the velocity structure is even more com-
plex with the complete submergence of heterogeneous vegetation
configuration.
ANJUM AND TANAKA 1709

3.1.2 | Contour plot distribution of velocity
Longitudinal distribution
The spatial distribution of the dimensionless stream-wise velocity at
longitudinal sections, that is, LS1 (passing through the gap of short
and tall vegetation array) and LS2 (passing directly through the short
and tall vegetation array) are presented in Figure 5a–h. It shows that
the flow encountered significant variations as it reached the vegeta-
tion patches. The velocities in the gap zones are lower in comparison
to those in the patch zones due to the sheltering influence of it
(Figure 5a,c,e,g). Thus, a noteworthy difference in the flow velocity is
found between the vegetation patch and the gap zones. The velocity
profiles failed to obtain their usual shapes due to the reason that the
effect of the patches prevails for a specific distance behind the

F I G U R E 5 Contour plots of the

spatial distribution of non-
dimensional stream-wise velocity ‘u/
U’ along the longitudinal sections, that
is, LS1 and LS2, for (a and b) Case A,
(c and d) Case B, (e and f) Case C, and
(g and h) Case D. The dashed boxes
show the locations and the area
occupied by the vegetation patches.
For the longitudinal sections, see
Figure 1 [Colour figure can be viewed
at wileyonlinelibrary.com]
1710 ANJUM AND TANAKA

downstream edge. Overall, the flow velocities in DLV arrangement
are observed to be very low (Figure 5a,b) due to the mutual influence
of short and tall vegetation, as compared to those resulted in SV and
EV arrangements (Figure 5c–f). Contrarily, the flow resistance through
DLV at higher discharge value (Case D; Figure 5g,h), is observed to be
relatively low due to submergence of both vegetation configurations.
Furthermore, the velocities directly behind the cylinders in DLV
arrangement (Case A) are comparatively reduced to a minimum (in the
wake zones) in comparison to that observed in SV and EV arrange-
ments. Past researches have proposed that the wake zones behind
the vegetation support deposition of fine particle that further stimu-
lates the growth and expansion of the vegetated zone (Gurnell,
Thompson, Goodson, & Moggridge, 2008; Shi, Jiang, & Nepf, 2016;
Tsijimoto, 1999). This type of finite patches of vegetation can produce

F I G U R E 6 Contour plots of the spatial distribution of non-dimensional stream-wise velocity ‘u/U’ along the cross-sections, that is, C1 and C2,
for (a and b) Case A, (c and d) Case B, (e and f) Case C, and (g and h) Case D. The dashed boxes show the locations and the area occupied by the
vegetation patches. For the cross-sections, see Figure 1 [Colour figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]
ANJUM AND TANAKA
the bio-geomorphic responses between the flow and vegetation,
deposition of sediments, and further growth (Gurnell, 2014; Gurnell,
Bertoldi, & Corenblit, 2012; Marion et al., 2014; Nepf, 2012). Thus,
the vegetation patches with double-layered configuration can offer
more sheltering to the gap zones compared to that of single-layered
configurations, signifying positive feedback towards aquatic life as
well as sediment deposition.
A rise in the flow velocity around the top of submerged short
vegetation can be clearly observed, with high velocity magnitudes in
the upper zone of short vegetation height, and low magnitudes of
velocity within the lower zone (Figure 5b,d,h). Barrios-Piña, Ramírez-
León, Rodríguez-Cuevas, and Couder-Castañeda (2014) also found in
their numerical modelling of flow through layered vegetation array
that the velocity rises above the SV zone. This type of flow structures
in the locality of cylinders is not easy to attain with an experimental
investigation, which shows the importance of the present numerical
study. A stronger rise in the flow velocity is found above the canopy
layer in SV configuration (Figure 5c,d), signifying a strong momentum
transfer between the canopy top and the overlying flow. Moreover,
the vertical velocity distribution appeared uniform through EV due to
the constant vegetation formation with the emerged condition,
followed by no inflectional instability in the flow (Figure 5e,f). The
flow velocities through DLV configuration also showed rising trends
around the edge of submerged canopies at higher discharge value
(Figure 5g,h), indicating a stronger velocity rise around upper canopy
top as compared to that of the lower canopy top.
Lateral distribution
The spatial distribution of the dimensionless stream-wise velocity
along the cross-sections, that is, C1 (passing through the gap between
the patches) and C2 (passing through the centre of vegetation patch),
is presented in Figure 6a–h. It shows that the flow velocity distribu-
tion is significantly influenced due to vegetation formation. The veloc-
ities in the canopy zone (obstructed part) greatly reduced because of
the drag offered by the vegetation in all the cases. The presence of
vegetation along one side of the channel significantly offered resis-
tance to the flow and affected the channel conveyance. The velocities
increased significantly while moving from the canopy zone to the
non-obstructed part, that is, non-vegetated zone, trailed by a notice-
able alteration along the interface between the two zones. Thus, the
fast-moving flow in the non-vegetated zone and slow-moving flow in
the canopy zone (due to the velocity difference between the two
zones) results in a larger momentum exchange along the interface
between the two zones, accompanied by a free shear layer. This
shows consistency with the outcomes presented by previous
researchers (Huai, Zhang, Wang, & Katul, 2019; Tang et al., 2019).
The flow velocities in the non-vegetated zone increased by a per-
centage difference of 75, 54, 68, and 59% compared to that in the
canopy zone for DLV with short cylinder submerged and tall emergent
(Case A), SV (Case B), EV (Case C), and DLV with both short and tall
cylinders submerged (Case D), respectively. This indicates that high
flow resistance in the canopy zone is compensated with the faster
flow in the no-canopy zone, showing the importance of side
1711
vegetation. In general, the ratio of the discharge (calculated using the
lateral velocity distribution) passing through the canopy zone to that
in the non-vegetated part is found to be 0.33, 0.85, 0.48, and 0.70 for
DLV (while keeping short cylinder submerged and tall emergent), SV,
EV, and DLV (while keeping both short and tall cylinders submerged),
respectively. Thus, it also identifies that the presence of vertically
DLV, while keeping the only short vegetation in the submerged state,
can offer more resistance to the flow in the canopy zone and
increases the main channel flow carrying capacity.
The velocity vectors of the secondary currents (lateral ‘v’ and ver-
tical ‘w’) along the cross-section (C2) are presented in Figure 7. A clear
difference between the canopy and no-canopy zone can be observed.
The strength of the secondary currents (a relatively minor flow sup-
erimposed on the primary flow, with relatively different speed and
direction) is visibly larger in the canopy area as compared to that in
the no-canopy zone. The drag offered by the vegetation cylinders
induced secondary currents. The predicted secondary currents
showed a relatively large magnitude near the interface close to the
vegetation zone and moved slightly away from the interface to show
a circulation, that is, the vectors of v and w show a pattern of second-
ary circulations around the vegetation. Thus, this rotation of second-
ary currents resulted in swirling flows around the cylindrical bodies.
The retarding effect of the vegetation zone generates the point of
inflection, which induces the flow instability to generate the vortex at
the interface zone (Jahra, Kawahara, Hasegawa, & Yamamoto, 2011;
Nezu & Onitsuka, 2001). Thus, by flow visualization, vortices have
been observed mainly at the vertical and lateral canopy interfaces;
and hence, dominating the vertical and lateral transport of momentum
and are advected between the canopy and no-canopy zone by the
secondary currents, generated by the anisotropy of the turbulence.
The detailed description of mixing and coherent vortices depending
upon the formation and submergence level of vegetation configura-
tions is discussed in the next section.
3.1.3 | Description of mixing along the cross-
section
In the previous sections, it is noticeably shown that the velocity is
diminished in the canopy zone. Although it showed an increment rela-
tive to the initial average velocity in the overlying flow of canopy
which is pronounced more in the non-vegetated zone. This is because
of the drag associated with the vegetation structures, such that the
vegetation and water interface is a zone of strong shear that shows a
mixing layer. A mixing layer is formed when the momentum absorp-
tion by the canopy can generate a sudden variation in the velocity
profile, which is essential to produce the Kelvin–Helmholtz instability
(Finnigan, 2000; Ghisalberti & Nepf, 2005). Thus, vortices govern the
mass and momentum exchange between the canopy and the overly-
ing flow or the flow in the non-vegetated part of the channel. The
mixing zone between the two almost-uniform mean velocity sections
define an effective vortex size and is supposed to initiate from
Kelvin–Helmholtz instability (Huai et al., 2019). This coherent vortex
1712
F I G U R E 7 Secondary flow, that is, v,w velocity vector fields (m/s), along the cross-section (C2) for (a) Case A, (b) Case B, (c) Case C, and
(d) Case D. Where the black and red dotted lines shows the location of cylinders just before and after the selected cross-section, respectively
[Colour figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]
size is regarded as the shear length scale in the canopy turbulence
(Raupach, Finnigan, & Brunet, 1996), and it represents the characteris-
tics of the turbulence length scale for the vegetated flows at the can-
opy/open water interface (Yan, Wai, & Li, 2016).
Figure 8a–d shows the schematic description of vertical and lat-
eral mixing in the partly obstructed channel by vegetation along the
cross-section. Thus, the mixing layers at the vertical and lateral inter-
faces adopted from the lateral velocity distributions (Figure 6) were
used to estimate the vortex size. The integrated size of vertical and
transverse coherent vortices estimated from the velocity distributions
demonstrate that the efficiency of lateral transport of momentum at
the interfacial zone, that is, interface of vegetated and non-vegetated
part, for DLV case (Figure 8a) was observed to be notably high as
compared to that of vertical momentum transfer between the SV top
and its overlying flow. In contrast to this, the mixing length is
observed to be restricted at the lateral interfacial zone in case of SV
(Figure 8b), whereas a larger growth of vortex size or mixing length is
observed over the submerged canopy top and its overlying flow. This
signifies a larger inflectional instability over this zone of flow which
governs and sufficiently increases the efficiency of vertical exchange
of momentum as compared to that of lateral transport of momentum
over the interfacial zone. Furthermore, the mixing length along the
interfacial zone is witnessed to be slightly lower for EV case
(Figure 8c) in comparison to that of DLV. Whereas in the contrast, it
was found to penetrate more in comparison to that of SV, which can
be a compensation of difference in the drag and inflectional
ANJUM AND TANAKA
instabilities between the vegetation formations of both cases, that is,
DLV and SV. The vortex size along the lateral interface for DLV is sig-
nificantly reduced and affected with the submergence of both short
and tall vegetation during high flow discharge (Figure 8d). The results
show that the size of these coherent vortices and the mixing length
growth around the interface depends on the canopy configuration as
well as the submergence condition of vegetation formations.
3.2 | Turbulence characteristics
3.2.1 | Turbulent kinetic energy
The distribution of dimensionless depth averaged turbulent kinetic
energy (TKE) along the longitudinal section (LS1) is presented in
Figure 9. The TKE is the mean kinetic energy per unit mass affiliated
with the eddies in a turbulent fluid flow. The turbulent kinetic energy
is characterized by the fluctuations of the root-mean square velocity
(Baldocchi, 2005; Pope, 2000). It can be observed that the flow is
disrupted and showed non-uniformity as it passed through the patch
zones. A significantly rising trend in TKE is found through the patch
zones, in comparison to that in the gap zones for all the cases. This is
due to the reason of higher drag by the vegetation structures in the
patch zones, which produces higher turbulent energy. While passing
through the patch zones, the flow entered in the low and high velocity
zones where it followed rising and falling trends; thus, replicated a
ANJUM AND TANAKA
F I G U R E 8 Schematic diagram of vortex behavior within the partly obstructed channel by vegetation describing the vertical and lateral mixing
along the cross-section for (a) Case A, (b) Case B, (c) Case C, and (d) Case D [Colour figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]
F I G U R E 9 Longitudinal distribution of depth averaged turbulent
kinetic energy ‘TKE’ along the domain length. For the longitudinal
section (LS1), see Figure 1a [Colour figure can be viewed at
wileyonlinelibrary.com]
saw-tooth distribution. This result is consistent with that observed in
previous research work (Zhao & Huai, 2016). Furthermore, the magni-
tudes of TKE through DLV are relatively higher in the lower canopy
layer in comparison to that in the upper canopy layer (Case A and
Case D). This effect resulted because of relatively low porosity of veg-
etation in the lower canopy layer, which caused larger turbulence to
the flow, by producing more turbulent eddies. As the flow velocities,
as well as its fluctuations, are large within the vegetation zones for SV
1713
and EV (Figure 5c,e) as compared to those in DLV case (Figure 5a), the
production of TKE is also observed to be comparatively high in these
cases. Moreover, the relatively large production of TKE in the patch
zones for Case C might be due to the reason of greater velocity fluc-
tuations due to high resistance and drag by the tall EV. On the other
hand, the logarithmic layer of flow in SV case experienced minimum
production of TKE due to absence of the drag and turbulence offered
by the vegetation in this region of flow.
3.2.2 | Turbulent intensity
The distribution of turbulent intensity (ratio of the root-mean square
velocity fluctuations to the mean flow velocity) along the longitudi-
nal section (LS1) is presented in Figure 10 to characterize the turbu-
lence in the channel flow. The turbulent intensity (also often
referred to as turbulence level) significantly rose in the vegetation
patch zones, in comparison to that in the gap between the patches,
indicating high flow turbulence in the areas covered by canopy.
Thus, these gap zones (between the vegetation patches) of low flow
velocities and low flow turbulence due to flow resistance and shel-
tering by the vegetation patches may be suitable for aquatic life in
terms of their nourishment and physical environment. Moreover, the
turbulent intensity appears to be comparatively very high for DLV
configuration (Case A) due to low flow velocities in the canopy zone
1714
F I G U R E 1 0 Longitudinal distribution of depth averaged turbulent
intensity along the domain length [Colour figure can be viewed at
wileyonlinelibrary.com]
and very high flow resistance offered by the combined effect of
shorter submerged and taller EV. The interaction of short and tall
vegetation results in the production of larger wakes and vortices that
promote the generation of more flow turbulence (Raupach
et al., 1996). On the contrary, although the flow is observed to be
comparatively non-uniform and velocity fluctuations are found to be
very high in SV (Case B) and EV (Case C); however, the flow resis-
tance due to vertically single-layered vegetation (either in sub-
merged or emerged condition) is found to be comparatively less,
which resulted in low turbulent intensity compared to that of verti-
cally DLV. Furthermore, the turbulent intensity significantly reduced
when both the short and tall vegetation were submerged in Case D
as compared to that of Case A, which is due to the reason of reduced
drag and resistance offered by this heterogeneous vegetation forma-
tion under fully submergence state. The turbulent intensity is found
to be minimum in the logarithmic layer in Case B due to no flow
obstruction in this region.
The results identify that the patch type vegetation with layered
configuration (while keeping short vegetation submerged and tall
emergent) or only emerged condition of vegetation can provide large
resistance to the flow in the canopy part that can increase the dis-
charge carrying capacity of the main channel by influencing its effi-
ciency. The reduced percentage of turbulence in the gap zones
between these patches can provide positive feedback for the aquatic
life and sediment deposition; that is expected to be pronounced more
in case of DLV.
4 | C O N CL U S I O N S
A CFD tool based on RANS technique utilizing FLUENT was
applied in this study to investigate the turbulent flow behaviour
through longitudinally discontinuous vegetation with a partial dis-
tribution in an open channel under varying vegetation formations
and submergence levels. The results have been analysed qualita-
tively as well as quantitatively. Following conclusions were drawn
from this study:
ANJUM AND TANAKA
• The presence of discontinuous rigid vegetation with partial distri-
bution in an open channel results in multiple flow mechanisms. The
flow velocity reduces within the height of short SV, followed by an
inflectional instability around the canopy top resulting in a mixing
layer over this region of flow. The length of the mixing layer is
influenced and inhibited to half in case of vertically double-layered
(shorter submerged and taller emergent) vegetation compared to
that in submerged single-layered vegetation. Furthermore, the ver-
tical velocity profile becomes even more complex due to double
inflectional instabilities through layered canopy when both short
and tall vegetation is submerged.
• The sheltering effect of the vegetation patches reduces the flow
velocities within the gap zones, the influence of which is observed
to be significantly high for the flow through DLV configuration
(with short vegetation submerged and tall emerged) compared to
those of single-layered (either in submerged or emerged condition)
vegetated flows. This categorizes that the discontinuous patches
with layered vegetation formation can give better positive feed-
back in terms of the physical environment of the aquatic organisms
for their nourishment and further growth of vegetal communities
as well as deposition of sediments.
• Due to the partial vegetation obstruction in the channel, the veloc-
ity in the vegetation part reduces considerably because of the veg-
etation drag; whereas the fluid passes with higher flow velocities
through the non-vegetation part of the channel, thus affects the
channel conveyance. The difference in flow velocity between the
vegetated and non-vegetated zones results in a free shear layer at
the interface of the vegetation and non-vegetation zones, which
results in the domination of the lateral exchange of momentum.
While keeping the vegetation density and porosity constant, the
ratio of the discharge through the vegetation part to the non-
vegetation part becomes almost 0.33, 0.85, 0.48, and 0.70 for DLV
(by keeping short cylinder vegetation while tall emergent), SV, EV,
and DLV (while keeping both short and tall vegetation submerged),
respectively.
• The observed mixing layers for flows through DLV suggest a com-
plex and stronger lateral exchange for partly vegetated channels in
comparison to flows through simpler configurations of canopy like
SV or EV only. In contrast to this, the vertical mixing and transport
of momentum in SV configuration dominate the lateral mixing over
the interfacial zone. Thus, it indicates that the plant morphology
along with its elevation or submergence in a partly vegetated chan-
nel strongly affects the interface turbulence with implications on
the lateral momentum transport.
• The drag offered by vegetation in the patch zones caused the flow
turbulence to noticeably increase, whereas on the contrary, the
turbulence in the flow reduced as it passed through the gap zones.
This clarifies that the gaps between the patch zones acquire less
percentage of turbulence, where the environment to the aquatic
life may become suitable.
The study showed that the vegetation with vertically layered for-
mation (while keeping short cylinder submerged and tall emergent)
ANJUM AND TANAKA
reduced the flow in the vegetation part of the channel to a great
extent. Whereas it sufficiently increased the discharge carrying capac-
ity of the main channel (without vegetation). This type of vegetation
pattern could be utilized over the floodplains that can become very
effective during higher flows like floods. In general, the outcomes of
this study may increase the comprehensive knowledge of the vegeta-
tion effects on flow structures in partially vegetated channels
(e.g., rivers or streams) with discontinuity, and may also give some
guidance for the management and practice of river ecological restora-
tion on river banks or floodplains. The low flow velocities as well as
low turbulence in the gaps between the vegetation patches indicates
a positive aspect for aquatic life, stabilizing the bed, promoting habitat
diversity as well as sediment deposition that may drive the pattern of
future vegetation growth in open channel flows. In addition, this study
will prove helpful in a logical distribution of vegetation in the flow to
minimize the flood disaster, ecological restoration of a river in order
to restore the function of the river system and designing ecological
habitats for aquatic organisms. This mixed culture of vegetation could
be a feasible solution as a natural approach towards reducing flood
risk or to manage flooding over the floodplains. However, the mixing
of tall trees with short vegetation for the river management and fores-
tation can influence the intrusion process which is an important factor
for the variation in river morphology (such landscape can also influ-
ence flooding). Therefore, it is further recommended to experimen-
tally or numerically investigate such influencing factors that may
affect flood risk management as well as river morphology. In addition,
a more detailed study is needed to illustrate the vertical and lateral
momentum exchange (with the help of related physical quantities
such as Reynolds stress, etc.) along-with the quantification of momen-
tum thickness and shear layer growth through the considered vegeta-
tion configurations to further clarify the phenomena.
ACKNOWLEDGEMEN TS
The authors acknowledge the anonymous reviewers for their useful
comments to improve this manuscript. The authors are also thankful
to Mr. Rowan De Costa for his help in improving the English language
of the manuscript.
DATA AVAI LAB ILITY S TATEMENT
The authors confirm that the data supporting the findings of this
study are available within the article.
CONF LICT S OF INTE R ES T
The authors declare no conflicts of interest for this study.
ORCID
Naveed Anjum https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5469-3434
Norio Tanaka https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0592-2173
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How to cite this article: Anjum N, Tanaka N. Investigating the
turbulent flow behaviour through partially distributed
discontinuous rigid vegetation in an open channel. River Res
Applic. 2020;36:1701–1716. https://doi.org/10.1002/
rra.3671