Evolution of sediment deposition and flow patterns in a rectangular shallow reservoir under suspended sediment load

Abstract

The deposition behavior of fine sediment is an important phenomenon, which remains unclear to engineers concerned about reservoir sedimentation. In the present case bed level changes, suspended sediment concentrations, and flow velocities were measured in a quasi continuous way. The goal of the study was to investigate the interaction between turbulent flow structures in rectangular shallow basin, suspended particles, bed forms and other instabilities by using several measurement techniques. The results help to understand the flow mechanism and the sediment exchange process. The prediction of sediment behavior lies in the prediction of flow behavior and the results are very sensitive to the geometry and the boundary conditions. The deposition pattern is obviously strongly influenced by the inlet jet deviation and, in turn, material deposits are able to change later the pattern of the flow structure. The volume of the deposited sediments reached 50% of the total reservoir volume after 18.0 hours. The reservoir reaches to the equilibrium after 16.0 hours at which the suspended sediment release efficiency reaches 100%.