Complex transport mechanism and interaction between fluid and sediment make the mathematical and numerical modeling of sediment transport very challenging. Different types of models can lead to different results. This paper investigates a non-equilibrium sediment transport model based on the total load. In this type of model, it is assumed that a bed slide will occur if the bed slope reaches a critical angle. This is enabled by means of a slope failure operator. Existing slope failure operators usually suffer from the high computational cost and may fail at wet/dry interfaces. The main contribution of this work is the development of a novel slope failure operator for the total load transport model, based on a modified mass balance approach. The proposed approach is verified in three test cases, involving bank failure, dyke overtopping and a two-dimensional bank failure. It is shown that the proposed approach yields good agreement with analytical results and measurement data.
A non-equilibrium sediment transport model for rill erosion
