Numerical Investigation of Bed Shear Stress and Roughness Coefficient Distribution in a Sharp Open Channel Bend

Abstract

The helical flow leads to the redistribution of the bed shear stress and roughness coefficient in open-channel bends, influencing the transport of sediment and riverbed evolution process. To explore the mechanisms underlying this redistribution, a 3D numerical simulation of a 180° sharp bend was performed by solving the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) equations using the Reynolds stress equation model (RSM) as the anisotropic turbulence closure approach. The results indicate that the high bed shear stress zone appeared in the inner bank region from the 50° to 110° sections, and the section maximum bed shear stress gradually shifted outwards, owing to the advective momentum transport by the circulation cells. The quantitative analyses of the terms in depth-averaged Navier-Stokes equations indicate that the contributions of the cross-stream circulation and cross-flow to the downstream bed shear stress were of the same order of magnitude, and the overall contribution rate of the cross-stream circulation was 20%. The contribution rates of the cross-flow, cross-stream circulation, turbulence, and pressure gradient to the transverse bed shear stress were approximately 30%, 7%, 3%, and 60%, respectively, indicating that the pressure gradient term arising from the transverse water surface slope played a dominant role. The Chezy resistance coefficient showed an overall decreasing trend along the bend. Therefore, an effective expression considering the streamwise variation along the centreline and transverse variation was successfully established to predict the uneven distribution of the Chezy resistance coefficient.