An experimental study of fluvial processes at asymmetrical river confluences with hyperconcentrated tributary flows

Abstract

This paper reports findings from experimental studies of sediment transport and bed morphology at asymmetrical confluences with hyperconcentrated tributary flows in the upper Yellow River. The results indicate that the hyperconcentrated flow confluence can be divided into four hydraulic regions, including the backwater zone above the upstream junction corner, the maximum velocity area, the separation flow zone, and the post-confluence region downstream of the junction corner. The bed morphology also consists of four basic elements, including the sandbar in the backwater zone, the bar in the separation flow zone, the thalweg for flow conveyance and sediment transport, and bars in the reach downstream of the separation zone. The sediment load of the hyperconcentrated flow from the tributary was the most important control on fluvial processes at such confluences. The increase in deposition in the backwater zone as the sediment load increased was almost linear, and the depth of sediment deposition in the backwater zone was approximately normal in distribution. The validity of a conceptual model for discriminating the status of the backwater effect, developed earlier from field data using the relationship between the sediment load and water volume of hyperconcentrated flows, was confirmed by the experiments. Deposition in the reach downstream of the junction, sandbar height in the backwater zone, and the width and length of the separation zone bar all tended to increase as the sediment load in the tributary increased. An obvious upstream-directed density current occurred in the backwater zone when the sediment concentration of the hyperconcentrated flow exceeded a critical value. The travel distance of the density current increased as the sediment load in the tributary increased. A formula was proposed, based on sediment continuity, for estimating the deposition volume in the reach downstream of the junction. Compared with ordinary sediment-laden flow confluences, hyperconcentrated flow confluences have a sandbar in the backwater zone associated with an upstream-directed density current that may sometimes block the main channel. Hyperconcentrated flow confluences have a thalweg, and so are different from debris flow confluences, which have a fan-shaped deposit.