The vertical strucutre of a steady, horizontally uniform, sediment-stratified turbolent flow of finite depth is uniquely determined by four dimensionless parameters (the Rouse number, the relative friction velocity, the sediment Richardson number and the relative height), if the dependencies of the reference level and the reference suspended sediment concentration on the excess bottom shear stress are accounted for. The solution to the appropriate boundary-value problem is expected to show the property of complete similarity in the sediment Richardson number because the characteristic value of the sediment Richardson number is orders of magnitude greater than those of the other dimensionless parameters. This hypothesis is confirmed under conditions which are typical of estuaries and shallow waters by results of numerical experiments obtained using a b-L turbolence model. These results clearly demonstrate the dependence of the vertical mean velocity shear and suspended sediment concentration on the Rouse number and the relative friction velocity.

EIFLER Walter; 

1996-11-05

JRC14060

https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC14060,