Lecture 04

Meyer- Peter and Muller (1948):

qb*  8  *   c* 
3/2

Where,  c*  0.047 . This formula is empirical in nature; it was verified with data for uniform
gravel.
Engelund & Fredsee formula (1976):
qb*  18.74  *   c*    *  0.7  c* 
Where  c*  0.05 . This formula resembles that of Ashida and Michiue because the derivation is
almost identical.

Fernandez Luque and van Beek (1976):

qb*  5.7  *   c* 
3/2

Where  c* varies from 0.05 for 0.9 mm material to 0.058 for 3.3 mm material. The relation is
empirical in nature.
Wilson (1966):

qb*  12  *   c* 
3/2

This relation is empirical in nature; most of the data used to fit it pertain to very high rates of
bedload transport.

Deposition / Settling Velocity of Particles in Still Water

Transport of grains occurs when instantaneous vertical component of flow exceeds the settling velocity
of particles.
Fall velocity in still water is influenced by two sets of forces:
1 submerged weight of particle
2 viscous fluid resistance and inertia effects
Small and big particles behave differently:
=>for small particles, viscous resistance dominates; inertia is negligible.
=>for large particles that fall quickly, inertial forces dominate.
Conditions under which of these effects dominates can be discerned using a Particle Reynolds
number (Rep)

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 Rep = u0 D / ν (15)
where u0 is the fall velocity, D is the particle diameter, and ν is the kinematic viscosity of the fluid.

Based on experiments, inertia is negligible where Rep < 1: the boundary layer around the particle is
laminar, and the fall is smooth (silt and clay). For Rep > 100, the viscous force is negligible, the
boundary layer around the particle is turbulent, fall is rough, and a wake develops (gravel).

Stokes Law
Stokes (1851) considered the problem of the balance between the downward force due to the
submerged weight of a particle and a viscous resistance force and thereby got a "law" named after
himself.
Submerged weight of a spherical particle
W = (π/6) D3 (ρs – ρ) g (16)
Viscous resistance = f (surface area, dynamic viscosity, and fall velocity)
V = 3π D μ u0 (17)
where μ = dynamic viscosity and u0 = fall velocity.
Assuming no acceleration of a falling particle (i.e., constant terminal velocity, us) then W = V and
(π/6) D3 (ρs – ρ) g = 3 π D μ us (18)
Rearranging (18) in terms of the fall velocity yields
us = (1/18) D2 (ρs – ρ) g / μ (19)
Hence the fall velocity of small particles (i.e. with no inertial effects; see eqn. 17) is proportional to the
square of the diameter.
Note also that the settling velocity depends upon the viscosity of the fluid—colder temperatures or
high sediment concentrations can make larger particles behave like finer ones and settle slower,
thereby allowing smaller upward velocity fluctuations to keep them suspended above the stream bed.

Inertial Law
Particles larger than about 2 mm (i.e., sand) encounter resistance from the "impact" force given by the
momentum per unit time of the cylindrical column of water whose cross-section area is the projected
area of the falling grain.
The impact force is given by

I = (1/4) π D2 ρus2 (20)

The force balance between the submerged weight of this falling particle and the impact force is given
by equating (16) and (20), at which time uo = us, the terminal settling velocity:

(π/6) D3 (ρs – ρ) g = (1/4) π D2 ρ us2 (21)

Rearranging terms yields:

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us 
2       2 DgR
Dg s (22)
3  3

Hence, large grains fall at a rate proportional to the square root of their size, which leads to a strong
size dependence to the fall velocity of particles in streamflow:

Whether particles of a particular size stay suspended in the flow or settle to the bed depends on the
magnitude of upward turbulence.

Pb. Calculate the fall velocity of a sediment particle from the following data:
Sediment dia. D=0.20mm, Submerged specific gravity R=1.65,
Kinematic viscosity υ=1.1x10-6m2/s
By using Stokes law and Inertia law.
Solution:
i) Stokes law us = (1/18) D2 (ρs – ρ) g / μ

ii) Inertia law us 

2   
Dg s
3 

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 Suspended sediment

Mass conservation of suspended sediment:

Suspended sediment differs from bed load sediment in that it may be diffused throughout the
vertical column of fluid via turbulence.
Let,
c=local instantaneous volume concentration of suspended sediment
t=time
u,v,w=flow velocity in x,y, z direction respectively.
vs=fall velocity
D=diffusion coefficient
c
Diffusion occurs on suspended sediment concentration. Thus, Flux= F   D
x
The equation of mass balance of suspended sediment is

[mass in volume]   net mass inflow rate 
t

 vs c  d (vs c)
c  c 
 Dz  d   Dz 
z  z 
wc  dwc c  c 
 Dy  d   Dy 
y  y 
vc  dvc
c
 Dx
x c  c 
 Dx  d   Dx 
x  x 
uc dz uc  duc

dy
vc dx
z
c
 Dy wc y
y
c
 Dz x
z
 vs c

Diffusion-dispersion equation of suspended sediment:

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 c  c   c  c   
dxdydz   uc  Dx    uc  duc  Dx  d   Dx    dydz
t  x   x  x   
 c   c  c   
  vc  Dy    vc  dvc  Dy  d   Dy    dxdz
 y   y  y   
 c   c  c   
  wc  Dz  vs c    wc  dwc  vs c  d (vs c )  Dz  d   Dz    dxdy
 z   z  z   
c   duc d  c      dvc d  c      dwc d d  c   
       Dx          Dy         (vs c)    Dz   
t   dx dx  x      dy dy  y      dz dz dz  z   

c duc dvc dwc d d  c  d  c  d  c 

     (vs c)   Dx    Dy    Dz 
t dx dy dz dz dx  x  dy  y  dz  z 

This is the diffusion-dispersion equation of suspended sediment.

For laminar flow, Dx=Dy=Dz=D

c duc dvc d (w  vs )c   2c  2c  2c 
    D    .....................................(1)
t dx dy dz  x y z 

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