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Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering / Volume 136 / Issue 11 / TECHNICAL PAPERS

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Nonintrusive Method for Detecting Particle Movement Characteristics near Threshold Flow Conditions

J. Irrig. Drain Eng. 136, 774 (2010); http://dx.doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)IR.1943-4774.0000252 (7 pages)

P. Diplas, M.ASCE1, A. O. Celik, S.M.ASCE2, C. L. Dancey3, and M. Valyrakis, S.M.ASCE4

1Professor and Director, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Baker Environmental Hydraulics Laboratory, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061 (corresponding author).
2Research Assistant, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Iki Eylul Campus, Anadolu University, Eskisehir 26555, Turkey; formerly, Graduate Student, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Baker Environmental Hydraulics Laboratory, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061.
3Associate Professor, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Baker Environmental Hydraulics Laboratory, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061.
4Graduate Student, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Baker Environmental Hydraulics Laboratory, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061.

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(Submitted 1 August 2009; accepted 1 April 2010; posted ahead of print 19 April 2010)

Bed-load measurements comprise an important component in the development of reliable formulas, in an effort to obtain the necessary constitutive relations between the amount of transported material and flow parameters. The uncertainty of such measurements is rather well known, being much more pronounced at lower transport rates. This uncertainty stems from the multitude of factors affecting bed-load transport and the lack of available trustworthy measuring technologies. Predictions of the limiting case of nearly zero bed-load transport, typically reported in literature as threshold of motion or critical condition, are even more challenging. The purpose of this contribution is twofold. First, to examine the sensitivity of bed-load transport measurements at conditions moderately higher than critical, to the presence of a rather unobtrusive trap, designed through several iterations. Even under relatively simple laboratory flume channel and flow conditions, it proved difficult to measure the bed-load transport rate in a completely unbiased way. Second, to develop a methodology, together with the appropriate instrumentation, for determining the condition of incipient motion. The nonintrusive approach described here proved to be reliable in detecting even the slightest movements of a particle. At the same time, it demonstrates the complexity of the problem due to the highly fluctuating nature of turbulent flow.

© 2010 ASCE

Acknowledgments

The support of the National Science Foundation (Grant No. EAR-0439663) for the study presented here is gratefully acknowledged.

Article Outline

  1. Introduction
  2. Bed-Load Transport Measurements
  3. Threshold of Movement Determination
  4. Discussion and Conclusions

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ARTICLE DATA

Digital Object Identifier
http://dx.doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)IR.1943-4774.0000252

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0733-9437 (print)  
1943-4774 (online)

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ASCE

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