Possible effects of the 1984 St. Clair River ice jam on bed changes

2015 ◽  
Vol 42 (9) ◽  
pp. 696-703 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomasz Kolerski ◽  
Hung Tao Shen

This study examines the possible effect of the record ice jam of 1984 in the St. Clair River on river bed changes and conveyance. Numerical simulations were made to examine the flow and bed shear stresses during the jam formation and release periods. Simulation results indicate that the ice jam in the river did not cause a significant increase in bed shear stress compared to pre- and post-jam open water conditions. The insignificant change on bed shear stress during the ice jam period is the result of the large flow depth and the limited jam thickness. The bed shear stresses are much less than the critical shear stress for bed particle movement. This implies that the jam may not have had a significant impact on the channel conveyance.

Author(s):  
Phani Ganesh Elapolu ◽  
Pradip Majumdar ◽  
Steven A. Lottes ◽  
Milivoje Kostic

One of the major concerns affecting the safety of bridges with foundation supports in river-beds is the scouring of river-bed material from bridge supports during floods. Scour is the engineering term for the erosion caused by water around bridge elements such as piers, monopiles, or abutments. Scour holes around a monopile can jeopardize the stability of the whole structure and will require deeper piling or local armoring of the river-bed. About 500,000 bridges in the National Bridge Registry are over waterways. Many of these are considered as vulnerable to scour, about five percent are classified as scour critical, and over the last 30 years bridge failures caused by foundation scour have averaged about one every two weeks. Therefore it is of great importance to predict the correct scour development for a given bridge and flood conditions. Apart from saving time and money, integrity of bridges are important in ensuring public safety. Recent advances in computing boundary motion in combination with mesh morphing to maintain mesh quality in computational fluid dynamic analysis can be applied to predict the scour hole development, analyze the local scour phenomenon, and predict the scour hole shape and size around a pier. The main objective of the present study was to develop and implement a three dimensional iterative procedure to predict the scour hole formation around a cylindrical pier using the mesh morphing capabilities in the STARCCM+ commercial CFD code. A computational methodology has been developed using Python and Java Macros and implemented using a Bash script on a LINUX high performance computer cluster. An implicit unsteady approach was used to obtain the bed shear stresses. The mesh was iteratively deformed towards the equilibrium scour position based on the excess shear stress above the critical shear stress (supercritical shear stress). The model solves the flow field using Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations, and the standard k–ε turbulence model. The iterative process involves stretching (morphing) a meshed domain after every time step, away from the bottom where scouring flow parameters are supercritical, and remeshing the relevant computational domain after a certain number of time steps when the morphed mesh compromises the stability of further simulation. The simulation model was validated by comparing results with limited experimental data available in the literature.


2012 ◽  
Vol 1 (33) ◽  
pp. 21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaya Kumar Seelam ◽  
Tom E Baldock

Bed shear stresses generated by solitary waves were measured using a shear cell apparatus over a rough bed in laminar and transitional flow regimes (~7600 < Re < ~60200). Modeling of bed shear stress was carried out using analytical models employing convolution integration methods forced with the free stream velocity and three eddy viscosity models. The measured wave height to water depth (h/d) ratio varied between 0.13 and 0.65; maximum near- bed velocity varied between 0.16 and 0.47 m/s and the maximum total shear stress (sum of form drag and bed shear) varied between 0.565 and 3.29 Pa. Wave friction factors estimated from the bed shear stresses at the maximum bed shear stress using both maximum and instantaneous velocities showed that there is an increase in friction factors estimated using instantaneous velocities, for non-breaking waves. Maximum positive total stress was approximately 2.2 times larger than maximum negative total stress for non-breaking waves. Modeled and measured positive total stresses are well correlated using the convolution model with an eddy viscosity model analogous to steady flow conditions (nu_t=0.45u* z1; where nu_t is eddy viscosity, u* is shear velocity and z1 is the elevation parameter related to relative roughness). The bed shear stress leads the free stream fluid velocity by approximately 30° for non-breaking waves and by 48° for breaking waves, which is under-predicted by 27% by the convolution model with above mentioned eddy viscosity model.


2015 ◽  
Vol 779 ◽  
pp. 556-597 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nimish Pujara ◽  
Philip L.-F. Liu ◽  
Harry Yeh

The swash of solitary waves on a plane beach is studied using large-scale experiments. Ten wave cases are examined which range from non-breaking waves to plunging breakers. The focus of this study is on the influence of breaker type on flow evolution, spatiotemporal variations of bed shear stresses and run-up. Measurements are made of the local water depths, flow velocities and bed shear stresses (using a shear plate sensor) at various locations in the swash zone. The bed shear stress is significant near the tip of the swash during uprush and in the shallow flow during the later stages of downrush. In between, the flow evolution is dominated by gravity and follows an explicit solution to the nonlinear shallow water equations, i.e. the flow due to a dam break on a slope. The controlling scale of the flow evolution is the initial velocity of the shoreline immediately following waveform collapse, which can be predicted by measurements of wave height prior to breaking, but also shows an additional dependence on breaker type. The maximum onshore-directed bed shear stress increases significantly onshore of the stillwater shoreline for non-breaking waves and onshore of the waveform collapse point for breaking waves. A new normalization for the bed shear stress which uses the initial shoreline velocity is presented. Under this normalization, the variation of the maximum magnitudes of the bed shear stress with distance along the beach, which is normalized using the run-up, follows the same trend for different breaker types. For the uprush, the maximum dimensionless bed shear stress is approximately 0.01, whereas for the downrush, it is approximately 0.002.


2001 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 796-808 ◽  
Author(s):  
Celestina Adu-Wusu ◽  
Ernest K Yanful ◽  
Mohammed H Mian

Flooding of tailings under shallow water covers is an effective method of decommissioning potentially acid generating mine tailings. The low diffusivity and solubility of oxygen in water are attractive features of this technology. However, wind-induced waves can resuspend flooded tailings and expose them to greater contact with dissolved oxygen, thereby increasing the potential for oxidation and acid generation. Field measurements of wind activity and waves under different water cover depths and associated resuspension for a mine tailings pond in Ontario are presented and discussed. The results show that wind speeds greater than 8 m/s above water covers that are shallower than 1 m create waves of height greater than 10 cm and bottom shear stresses greater than 0.2 Pa. Under these conditions the critical shear stress of the mine tailings was exceeded, resulting in erosion and subsequent resuspension.Key words: mine tailings, water cover, wind-induced waves, resuspension, wind speed, shear stress.


2007 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 473-489 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Haneef-Mian ◽  
Ernest K Yanful ◽  
Robert Martinuzzi

The present study gives details of a methodology for estimating the critical shear stress for erosion of mine tailings and other naturally occurring cohesive sediments. Erosion of a cohesive sediments bed occurs when the critical shear stress is exceeded to break the interparticle bond. Experiments were conducted in a 30 cm diameter laboratory column and calibrated using laser Doppler anemometry. The results showed that the erosion pattern of mine tailings particles was similar to those of fine-grained cohesive sediments. A power-law relation of the form E = α[(τ – τcr)/τcr]n is suggested for mine tailings, where E is the erosion rate, α is a coefficient, τ is the shear stress, τcr is the critical shear stress, and n is an exponent. The computed values of α, n, and τcr in the power-law equation were found to be comparable to values derived from experiments in a rotating circular flume. The derived expression for rate of erosion may be incorporated in resuspension and transport models for fine mine tailings of a similar nature.Key words: mine tailings, laser Doppler velocimetry, wall shear stresses, critical shear stress for erosion, erosion – shear stress relationship.


2004 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 153-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Subhasish Dey

An experimental study on critical bed shear-stress for initial movement of non-cohesive sediment particles under a steady-uniform stream flow on a combined lateral (across the flow direction) and longitudinal (streamwise direction) sloping bed is presented. The aim of this paper is to ascertain that the critical bed shear-stress on a combined lateral and longitudinal sloping bed is adequately represented by the product of critical bed shear-stress ratios for lateral and longitudinal sloping beds. Experiments were carried out with closed-conduit flow, in two ducts having a semicircular invert section, with three sizes of sediments. In laboratory flumes, the uniform flow is a difficult – if not impossible – proposition for a steeply sloping channel, and is impossible to obtain in an adversely sloping channel. To avoid this problem, the experiments were conducted with a closed-conduit flow. The critical bed shear-stresses for experimental runs were estimated from side-wall correction. The experimental data agree satisfactorily with the results obtained from the proposed formula.


Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 2346 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kiraga ◽  
Popek

Numerous approaches in sediment mobility studies highlighted the key meaning of channel roughness, which results not only from bed material granulation but also from various bed forms presence, caused by continuous sediment transport. Those forms are strictly connected with the intensity of particle transport, and they eventuate from bed shear stress. The present paper comprised of local scours geometric dimensions research in three variants of lengthwise development of laboratory flume in various hydraulic properties, both in “clear-water” and “live-bed” conditions of sediment movement. Lots of measurements of the bed conformation were executed using the LiDAR device, marked by a very precise three-dimensional shape description. The influence of the bed shear stress downstream model on scours hole dimensions of water structure was investigated as one of the key factors that impact the sediment transport intensity. A significant database of 39 experimental series, lasting averagely 8 hours, was a foundation for delineating functional correlations between bed shear stress-and-critical shear stress ratio and geometry properties of local scours in various flume development cases. In the scope of mutual influence of bed shear stress and water depth, high correlation coefficients were attained, indicating very good and good functional correlations. Also, the influence of bed shear stress and the total length of the scour demonstrated a high correlation coefficient.


Author(s):  
Dipankar Biswas ◽  
Steven A. Lottes ◽  
Pradip Majumdar ◽  
Milivoje Kostic

Bridges are a significant component of the ground transportation infrastructure in the United States. With about sixty percent of bridge failures due to hydraulic causes, primarily scour, application of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis techniques to the assessment of risk of bridge failure under flood conditions can provide increased accuracy in scour risk assessment at a relatively low cost. The analysis can be used to make optimum use of limited federal and state funds available to maintain and replace bridges and ensure public safety while traveling on the nation’s roads and highways during and after floods. Scour is the erosion of riverbed material during high flow conditions, such as floods. When scouring of the supporting soil around the piers and abutments of bridges takes place, risk of bridge failure increases. A simulation methodology to conservatively predict equilibrium shape and size of the scour hole under pressure flow conditions for flooded bridge decks using commercial CFD software was developed. The computational methodology has been developed using C++ to compute changes in the bed contour outside of the CFD software and generate a re-meshing script to change the bed boundary contour. STAR-CD was used to run the hydrodynamic analysis to obtain bed shear stress, and a BASH script was developed to automate cycling between computing bed shear stress with the CFD software and computing changes in the bed contour due to scour predicted using the computed shear stress for the current bed contour. A single-phase moving boundary formulation has been developed to compute the equilibrium scour hole contour that proceeds through a series of quasi-steady CFD computations. It is based on CFD analysis of the flow fields around the flooded bridge deck and shear stress computed at the bed modeled as a rough wall. A high Reynolds number k-ε turbulence model with standard wall functions, based on a Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) turbulence model, was used to compute bed shear stress. The scour sites on the bed were identified as those sites where the computed shear stress exceeded the critical shear stress computed from a published correlation for flat bed conditions. Comparison with experimental data obtained from the Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center (TFHRC), McLean, VA, USA, revealed larger discrepancies than anticipated between the bridge inundation ratio and the scour hole depth. Although scour hole slopes were small for the cases tested, a correction to critical shear stress to account for bed slope was also tested. It did not significantly improve the correlation between CFD prediction and experimental observations. These results may be a consequence of using only excess shear stress above critical as a criteria for scour when other physical mechanisms also contribute to the initiation of scour. Prediction of scour depth using federal guidelines over predicts scour depth by as much as an order of magnitude in some cases. Over prediction is acceptable for purposes of ensuring bridge safety. CFD methods for scour prediction can be a significant improvement of current methods as long as under prediction of scour depth is avoided. Conservative scour prediction using CFD methods can be achieved by using conservative values of parameters such as critical shear stress and effective bed roughness.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kieran B. J. Dunne ◽  
Douglas J. Jerolmack

Abstract. Gravel-bedded rivers organize their bankfull channel geometry and grain size such that shear stress is close to the threshold of motion. Sand-bedded rivers on the other hand typically maintain bankfull fluid stresses far in excess of threshold, a condition for which there is no satisfactory understanding. A fundamental question arises: Are bed-load (gravel-bedded) and suspension (sand-bedded) rivers two distinct equilibrium states, or do alluvial rivers exhibit a continuum of transport regimes as some have recently suggested? We address this question in two ways: (1) re-analysis of global channel geometry datasets, with consideration of the dependence of critical shear stress upon site-specific characteristics (e.g. slope and grain size); and (2) examination of a longitudinal river profile as it transits from gravel to sand-bedded. Data reveal that the transport state of alluvial river-bed sediments is bimodal, showing either near-threshold or suspension conditions, and that these regimes correspond to the respective bimodal peaks of gravel and sand that comprise natural river-bed sediments. Sand readily forms near-threshold channels in the laboratory and some field settings, however, indicating that another factor, such as bank cohesion, must be responsible for maintaining suspension channels. We hypothesize that alluvial rivers adjust their geometry to the threshold-limiting bed and bank material – which for gravel-bedded rivers is gravel, but for sand-bedded rivers is mud (if present) – and present tentative evidence for this idea.


2012 ◽  
Vol 1 (33) ◽  
pp. 58
Author(s):  
David Michalsen ◽  
Zeki Demirbilek ◽  
Okey Nwogu

Eagle Harbor is a small natural harbor located in central Puget Sound on the eastern side of Bainbridge Island, Washington State, USA. Over a period of about 80 years, the harbor was severely contaminated. Approximately 28.3 hectares of the contaminated harbor were capped with dredged and upland sediments from 1993 to 2008. Recent monitoring data has concluded portions of the subtidal cap has eroded and may not be physically stable. Erosion in the vicinity of the car passenger ferry sailing line suggests the cap material may not be of sufficient size to achieve the objectives of providing a physical barrier for chemical isolation. Here, a two-dimensional finite difference model using a coupled Boussinesq-Panel method is used to investigate bed shear stresses on the existing sediment cap to analyze cap stability. Model results indicate the subtidal cap experiences over 100 Pa of bed stress within a 30 meter swath of the ferry sailing line. These bed stresses significantly exceed the critical shear stress of the original cap material indicating the cap is not physically stable.


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