Abstract
In this paper, the effect of different curvatures on the spatial variation of coherent flow structure inside two physical models with both strongly curved and mild multi-bend meanders is investigated. Three dimensional flow velocities at three sequential meanders were measured using an Acoustic Doppler Velocity meter (Micro-ADV). Three dimensions of flow velocity are classified into two major classes and eight different bursting events. The contribution probability and transition probability of each zone is calculated from experimental data. The results indicated that the effect of curvature in sequential bends was important particularly for strongly curved bends. The contribution probability of the events for strongly curved meanders with relative curvature (Rc/B) of 2.6 were found to be higher than for mild curved meanders with relative curvature (Rc/B) of 4.43. The minimum contribution probability was found in external inward interaction event. In addition, analysis of bursting events showed that the highest values of transition probabilities occurred in the stable organizations for both models. The influences of different curvatures on distributions of the Reynolds shear stress, the turbulent kinetic energy, the streamwise velocity and the vertical velocity were also shown to be in good agreement with eroded bed. The above results can be useful for finding meandering patterns inside rivers and also in river training works.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abad JD, Garcia MH (2009) Experiments in a high-amplitude Kinoshita meandering channel: 1. Implications of bend orientation on mean and turbulent flow structure. Water Resour Res 45:W02401
Afzalimehr H, Singh VP (2009) Influence of meandering on the estimation of velocity and shear velocity in cobble-bed channels. J Hydraul Eng (ASCE) 4(10):1126–1135
Anwar HO (1986) Turbulent structure in river bends. J Hydraul Eng (ASCE) 112:657–669
Best JL (1993) On the interactions between turbulent flow structure, sediment transport and bedform development: some considerations from recent experimental research. In: Clifford N, French JR, Hardisty J (eds) Turbulence: Perspectives on flow and sediment transport. Wiley, New York, NY
Blanckaert K (2002) Analysis of coherent flow structures in a bend based on instantaneous-velocity profiling. In: Third international symposium on ultrasonic Doppler methods for fluid mechanics and fluid engineering. EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland
Blanckaert K, De Vriend HJ (2004) Secondary flow in sharp open-channel bends. J Fluid Mech 498:353–380
Blanckaert K, De Vriend HJ (2005) Turbulence structure in sharp open-channel bends. J Fluid Mech 536:27–48
Blanckaert K, Graf WH (2001a) Mean flow and turbulence in open-channel bend. J Hydraul Eng (ASCE) 127:835–847
Blanckaert K, Graf WH (2001b) Momentum transport in sharp open-channel bends. J Hydraul Eng (ASCE) 130(3):186–198
Cellino M (2002) Ultrasonic measurements of instantaneous velocity and suspended concentration in open channel flow. In: Third international symposium on ultrasonic Doppler methods for fluid mechanics and fluid engineering. EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland
Cellino M, Lemmin U (1999) Coherent flow structure analysis in suspension flows. In: 28th IAHR congress, Graz, Austria
da Silva AMF (1995) Turbulent flow in sine-generated meandering channel. PhD Thesis, Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada
da Silva AMF (2006) On why and how do rivers meander. J Hydraul Res 44(5):579–590
da Silva AMF, El-Tahawy T, Tape WD (2006) Variations of flow pattern with sinuosity in sine-generated meandering streams. J Hydraul Eng (ASCE) 132(10):1003–1014
Dietrich WE (1987) Mechanics of flow and sediment transport in river bends. In: Richards KS (ed) River channels environment and process. Basil Blackwell, Oxford, pp 179–224
Esfahani FS, Keshavarzi AR (2010a) The effect of different curvatures on flow structure inside the river meander. In: 5th national congress on civil engineering, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran
Esfahani FS, Keshavarzi AR (2010b) On secondary currents in multi-bend rivers with different curvatures. In: 13th annual and 2nd international fluid dynamics conference, Shiraz, Iran
Ferro V (2003) ADV measurements of velocity distributions in a gravel-bed flume. Earth Surf Process Landf 28:707–722
Frothingham KM, Rhoads BL (2003) Three-dimensional flow structure and channel change in an asymmetrical compound meander loop, Embarras River, Illinois. Earth Surf Process Landf 28:625–644
Furbish DJ (1988) River-bend curvature and migration: how are they related? Geology 16:752–755
Gob F, Houbrechts G, Hiver JM, Petit F (2005) River dredging, channel dynamics and bed load transport in an incised meandering river (The River Semois, Belgium). River Res Appl 21:791–804
Graf NE (2008) 50 years of channel change on a reach of the Big Blue River, Northeast Kansas. MS Thesis, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas
Graf WH, Altinakar MS (1998) Fluvial hydraulics: flow and transport processes in channels of simple geometry. Wiley, New York
Hamidifar H, Keshavarzi A, Saadatnia M, Sistani B (2008) Experimental investigation of the effect of pile installation on change of erosion and sedimentation pattern in channel’s meander. In: 7th Iranian hydraulic conference, Tehran, Iran
Harvey MD (1988) Measurement dynamics of the Sacramento River, California. In: California riparian systems conference, Davis, CA
Henderson FM (1966) Open channel flow. Prentice Hall, New Jersey
Hickin EJ (1974) The development of meanders in natural river-channels. Am J Sci 274:414–442
Hickin EJ, Nanson GC (1975) The character of channel migration on the Beaton River, north-east British Columbia, Canada. Bull Geol Soc Am 86:487–794
Hudson PF, Kesel RH (2000) Channel migration and meander-bend curvature in the lower Mississippi River prior to major human modification. Geology 28:531–534
Hurther D (2001) Sediment transport assessment in suspension flow based on coherent structure characteristics. In: Proceedings of the JFK student paper competition, 29th IAHR congress, Beijing, China
Jafari Mianaei S, Keshavarzi AR (2008) Spatio-temporal variation of transition probability of bursting events over the ripples at the bed of open channel. J Stoch Environ Res Risk Assess 22(2):257–264
Jafari Mianaei S, Keshavarzi AR (2010) Study of near bed stochastic turbulence and sediment entrainment over the ripples at the bed of open channel using image processing technique. J Stoch Environ Res Risk Assess 24(5):591–598
Jung JW, Yoon SE (2000) Flow and bed topography in a 180-degree curved channel. In: 4th international conference on hydro-science and engineering. Korea Water Resources Association
Keshavarzi AR (1997) Entrainment of sediment particles from a flat mobile bed with the influence of near-wall turbulence. PhD Thesis, University of New South Wales, Australia
Keshavarzi AR, Ball JE (1997) An analysis of the characteristics of rough bed turbulent shear stress in an open channel flow. J Stoch Hydrol Hydraul 11(3):193–210
Keshavarzi AR, Ball JE (1999) An application of image processing in the study of sediment motion. J Hydraul Res 37(4):559–576
Keshavarzi AR, Gheisi AR (2006) Stochastic nature of three dimensional bursting events and sediment entrainment in vortex chamber. J Stoch Environ Res Risk Assess 21(1):75–87
Keshavarzi AR, Shirvani A (2002) Probability analyses of instantaneous shear stress and entrained particles from the bed. In: CSCE/EWRI of ASCE environmental engineering conference, Niagara
Kline SJ, Reynolds WC, Schraub FA, Runstadler PW (1967) The structure of turbulent boundary layers. J Fluid Mech 30(1):741–773
Lawler DM, West JR, Couperthwaite JS, Mitchell SB (2001) Application of a novel automatic erosion and deposition monitoring system at a channel bank site on the tidal River Trent, U.K. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 53:237–247
Leschziner MA, Rodi W (1979) Calculation of strongly curved open channel flow. J Hydraul Div 105:1297–1314
Makaveyvev NI (1975) River bed and erosion in its basin. Press of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Moscow
Nakagawa H, Nezu I (1977) Prediction of the contributions to the Reynolds stress from bursting events in open-channel flows. J Fluid Mech 80(1):99–128
Nelson JM, Shreve RL, Mclean SR, Drake TG (1995) Role of near bed turbulence structure in bed load transport and bed form mechanics. Water Resour Res 31(8):2071–2086
Nezu I, Nakagawa H (1993) Turbulence in open-channel flows. IAHR Monograph, Balkema, Rotterdam, Netherlands
Odgaard AJ, Bergs MA (1988) Flow processes in a curved alluvial channel. Water Resour Res 24(1):45–56
Rozovskii IL (1957) Flow of water in bends of open channels. Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, Kiev, Israel Program for Scientific Translation, Jerusalem
Solari L, Zolezzi G, Seminara G (1999) Curvature driven distortion of free bars in river bends. In: Proceedings of the IAHR symposium on river, coastal and estuarine morphodynamics, Genova, pp 563–573
Sontek ADV (1997) Operation manual, firmware version 4.0. Sontek, San Diego
Stoesser T, Fohlich J, Rodi W (2003) Identification of coherent flow structures in open channel flow over rough bed using large eddy simulation. In: Proceedings of the 30th IAHR Thessaloniki, Greece
Termini D (2009) Experimental observations of flow and bed processes in large-amplitude meandering flume. J Hydraul Eng (ASCE) 135(7):575–587
Thorne PD, Williams JJ, Heathershaw AD (1989) In situ acoustic measurements of marine gravel threshold and transport. Sedimentology 36:61–74
Tilston M, Rennie C, Arnott RWC, Post G (2009) On the nature of coherent turbulent structures in channel bends: burst-sweep orientations in three-dimensional flow fields. In: 33rd IAHR congress: water engineering for a sustainable environment
Yalin MS (1992) River mechanics. Pergamon Press, Oxford
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Esfahani, F.S., Keshavarzi, A. Effect of different meander curvatures on spatial variation of coherent turbulent flow structure inside ingoing multi-bend river meanders. Stoch Environ Res Risk Assess 25, 913–928 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00477-011-0506-4
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00477-011-0506-4