Grain‐size distribution of suspended load in relation to bed materials and flow velocity

Abstract

ABSTRACTGrain‐size frequency distributions of suspended loads at different flow velocities and over sand beds of four different grain‐size patterns were studied in a laboratory flume. The proportion of bed material which went into suspension increased with decrease of grain‐size in each case, but the modes of the suspended loads occurred in the size classes intermediate between the coarsest and the finest. With increase of flow velocity, as also with decrease of the bed's mean grain‐size, the total amount of material in suspension markedly increased, mainly due to addition of particles to the medium size classes.The coarsest grains in the bed resisted erosion due to their weight, whereas the finest ones were either not available in sufficient quantities or resisted erosion due to their homogeneity. The finest of the erodible grains which were abundantly available in bed were therefore, lifted up in large quantities. This size sorting took place at or near the bed surface and was closely related to the process of bed form migration.Large accumulation of medium sized particles in suspension at high velocities led to lognormal grain‐size distributions when the nature of the bed (source) material was suitable. At lower velocities, or over other types of bed materials, the phi (log)‐probability plots of cumulative grain‐size distributions of the suspended loads resolved into a number of straight lines. Mixtures of linear segments on phi‐probability graphs therefore, need not necessarily indicate different modes of sediment transportation, as is commonly believed, but might reflect the conditions of flow and the nature of the source material.