Variation of Velocity Distribution in Rough Meandering Channels

Abstract

Distribution of flow and velocity in a meandering river is important in river hydraulics to be investigated from a practical point of view in relation to the bank protection, navigation, water intakes, and sediment transport-depositional patterns. When flow enters a bend, the centrifugal force arising from the channel curvature leads to a transversal slope in the water surface. The interaction between the centrifugal force and transversal pressure gradient causes secondary flows in cross-sections, and the secondary flows spread further by moving along the bend. Hence, at the bends, these processes lead to longitudinal velocity increase in the inner wall and decrease at the outer wall. In this paper, experimentation is carried out for two different bed roughness on a 4.11 sinuosity meandering channel with 110° crossover. Longitudinal velocity distribution is analysed with the graphical illustrations for the detailed experimental study. Study of flow profile across the crossover is also particularly important as the inner bank of the bend changes to the outer bank and vice versa which has a significant effect on the water surface profile and hence on the velocity distribution along the full meander path. The objective of the analysis is to determine the effect of curvature and roughness on the velocity profiles, throughout the meander path. It is determined that the resistance of flow, on the smoother bed channel, is higher than that of the channel with higher Manning’s n above a certain depth at the apex and transition sections. A reciprocal study of the experimental investigation is attempted with a numerical hydrodynamic tool, namely, CCHE (Centre for Computational Hydroscience and Engineering) developed by NCCHE, University of Mississippi, US. The model is applied to simulate the inbank flow velocity distribution and validate the experimental observation for the meandering channel with rough bed.