Рhysical simulation of erosion of bottom pits

Abstract

The present paper is devoted to research of the erosion of large-scale sand pits in the water flow. The investigations were performed in the hydrodynamic flume with sandy bottom. To provide suitable conditions for sediment transport in the flume, the analysis of the factors leading to the motion of sediments was carried out in accordance with the Shields diagram. It was shown that the flow regime created in the laboratory channel promotes the development of natural bed forms such as ripples. Estimations of the velocity of movement of the ripples were obtained. The experiments with large sand pits on the flume bottom demonstrated that those disturb the balance of sediments and cause the reformatting of the water flow. To assess the influence of the pit configuration on the erosion process, two-dimensional triangular and trapezoidal pits were considered. It was found that the longitudinal profile of the triangular pit changes due to sediment deposition on its upper slope and erosion of the lower slope. The pit upper slope levels out and shifts forward due to the continuous flow of sediment in this region. The depth of the unevenness also decreases owing to deposition of the sediment directly on its bottom. Due to the blow of water jet to the pit lower slope, the zone of maximum erosion of the bottom surface is observed here. The bottom reformatting leads to the displacement of the pit downstream. Studies of the erosion of the trapezoidal pit have shown that its upper slope is first shifted toward the lower slope until the trapezoidal profile turns into a triangular one. The pit erosion causes also the deformation of natural forms of the channel bed and destabilization of sediment discharge. The analysis of the obtained data demonstrated that the reformation of channel bed is a durable process depending of the ratio of pit scales to the volume of sediment. The present study is useful for development of engineering solutions directed to reduction of risks caused by the interaction of sand quarries with hydraulic structures in rivers.