A numerical study on suspended sediment transport in a partially vegetated channel flow

Abstract

Turbulent structures generated by vegetation patches play a dominant role in the dispersion of suspended sediment, which in turn is of great significance for ecosystem cycling and river geomorphology development. High fidelity Large Eddy Simulations (LES) coupled with the Discrete Phase Method (DPM) were used to explore the particle distribution and its variance (the non-uniformity in temporal and spatial space) in a partially vegetated straight channel. The novel findings and conclusions are outlined here. Firstly, the contour of the vertical vorticity component coincides well with particle preferential gatherings in the outer edge of the mixing layer in the near-bed region. Large-scale turbulent structures grow in mixing layer along the side of a vegetation patch (VP), which deplete particles away from the mixing layer into the neighbouring region. Also, higher vegetation densities (Dn) promote this depletion trend. Secondly, the Probability Density Function (PDF) and its variance were defined to quantify these phenomena, illustrating that the VP continuously interrupts the flow condition and promotes higher non-uniformity of particle distribution among the vegetated and non-vegetated regions. The variance of the PDF in the non-vegetated region is significantly higher than that in the neighbouring vegetated region located in the same streamwise location. The particle parcels are highly unevenly located along the periphery of the large eddies and are exchanged by the mixing flow between the non-vegetated and vegetated regions. Finally, the vertical entrainment of particles occurs in the vegetated region of the present cases. This is because the horseshoe structures provide an upwards velocity for the current Dn conditions (Dn < 0.1) and an increase of Dn (Dn < 0.1) accelerates the upward suspension. These findings complete our understanding of particles’ transportation in both spanwise and vertical directions.