Sediment Transport

• Sediment transport is the general term used for

the transport of material (e.g. silt, sand, gravel
and boulders) in rivers and streams.

• The transported material is called the sediment

load. Distinction is made between the bed load
and the suspended load.

• In most practical situations, the sediments behave

as a non-cohesive material (e.g. sand and gravel)
Daniel A. Civil Eng-UU-2018
 Contd
• The science of sediment transport deals with the
interrelationship between flowing water and
sediment particles.

• An understanding of the physical properties of

water and sediment particles is essential to our
study of sediment transport.
Density: the mass per unit volume [kg/m³].
Specific weight: the weight per unit volume
(kN/m³).
Specific Gravity: specific weigh of particle to
water
Daniel A. Civil Eng-UU-2018
 Contd
• The density of quartz and clay minerals is
typically 2650 kg/m3. Most natural sediments
have densities similar to that of quartz.

• The most important property of a sediment particle is

its characteristic size. It is termed the diameter or
sediment size, and denoted ds.

• Several definitions of sediment size are available

The sieve diameter is the size of particle which

passes through a square mesh sieve of given size but
not through the next smallest size sieve
Daniel A. Civil Eng-UU-2018
 Contd
The sedimentation diameter/Fall diameter is the
size of a quartz sphere that settles down (in the
same fluid) with the same settling velocity as
the real sediment particle

The nominal diameter is the size of the quartz

sphere of same density and same mass as the
actual particle.

• The sediment size may also be expressed as a

function of the sedimentological size parameter ø
(or Phi-scale) defined as:
Daniel A. Civil Eng-UU-2018
 Contd

Daniel A. Civil Eng-UU-2018

 Contd
•Fall velocity: is the average terminal settling
velocity of a particle falling alone in distilled water
of infinite extent. When the fall velocity is measured
at 24°C, it is called the standard fall velocity.

•Angle of repose: is the angle of slope formed by a

given material under the conditions of incipient
sliding.

Daniel A. Civil Eng-UU-2018

 Contd
•Void Ratio: the ratio of volume of voids (or pores) to
volume of solids. The void ratio is related to the
porosity as:

•Porosity: is a measure of the volume of voids per unit

volume of sediment, i.e.

Daniel A. Civil Eng-UU-2018

 Particle size distribution
•The particle size distribution is usually represented by
a plot of the weight percentage of total sample, which is
smaller than a given size plotted as a function of the
particle size

•The characteristic sediment size d50 is defined as the

size for which 50% by weight of the material is finer.

•Similarly the characteristic sizes d10, d75 and d90 are

values of grain sizes for which 10%, 75% and 90% of
the material weight is finer, respectively.
Daniel A. Civil Eng-UU-2018
 Contd
•d50 is commonly used as the characteristic grain size
and the range of particle size is often expressed in
terms of a sorting coefficient S:

Daniel A. Civil Eng-UU-2018

 Bed Formation
•The bed form results from the drag force exerted by
the bed on the fluid flow as well as the sediment
motion induced by the flow onto the sediment grains.
This interactive process is complex.

Daniel A. Civil Eng-UU-2018

 Contd
•The predominant parameters which affect the bed
form are

•Bed slope
•Flow depth and velocity
•Sediment size and
•Particle fall velocity
•The basic bed forms which may be encountered are
the
•Ripples (usually of heights less than 0.1 m),
•Dunes, flat bed,
•Standing waves and antidunes
Daniel A. Civil Eng-UU-2018
 Contd
•Ripples and Dunes – Shear Greater than critical

•Ripples -small undulations are developed on the

bed called ripples

•Three dimensional in nature and move in the

downstream direction at a very low speed

•DUNES
•Develop with further increase in shear
•Triangular undulations much larger than ripples
• Occurrence of surface boils
Daniel A. Civil Eng-UU-2018
 Contd
•Antidunes – further increase in bed shear

•Standing waves– symmetrical sand and water

waves in phase

•Move slowly upstream

•Break Intermittently

Daniel A. Civil Eng-UU-2018

 Contd
•Ripples and dunes move in the downstream direction

•Antidunes are observed with supercritical flows and

they migrate in the upstream flow direction

Daniel A. Civil Eng-UU-2018

 Contd

Daniel A. Civil Eng-UU-2018

 Contd

Daniel A. Civil Eng-UU-2018

 Contd

Daniel A. Civil Eng-UU-2018

 Bed Load
•Once the bed shear exceeds the critical value,
sediment movement starts
•The sediment can move as
 Contact load
Saltation load
Suspended load
Wash load

•Contact Load- sediment that moves along the bed by

sliding or rolling
Daniel A. Civil Eng-UU-2018
 Contd

Daniel A. Civil Eng-UU-2018

 Contd
•Saltation load

 Sediment that moves in small jumps

Typical jump height 1 to 2 times the grain diameter
Length of jump about 1 to 10 times the jump
height

Daniel A. Civil Eng-UU-2018

 Contd
•Suspended Load
Sediment that is thrown in suspension and
supported by the turbulence in the flow

•Wash load
Very fine material that does not settle even if
the shear is reduced considerably
•Contact load and saltation load are grouped together
and called the bed load moves with a velocity smaller
than the flow velocity
•Suspended load moves with the same velocity as the
Daniel A. Civil Eng-UU-2018
 Initiation of Motion/Incipient Condition

•A knowledge of flow at the incipient motion condition

is useful in
•Fixing slope or
•Depth for clear water flow in an alluvial
channel.

•Knowledge of the incipient motion condition is also

required in some methods of calculation of sediment
load

Daniel A. Civil Eng-UU-2018

 Contd
•The experimental data on incipient motion condition
have been analysed by different investigators using
one of the following three approaches

(i) Competent velocity approach,

(ii) Lift force approach, and
(iii) Critical tractive force approach.

•Of these three approaches, the critical tractive force

approach is considered most logical and is most often
used
Daniel A. Civil Eng-UU-2018
 Contd

•Consider flow in an open channel

Moveable bed –uniform and cohesive
material
Given slope and uniform flow

Daniel A. Civil Eng-UU-2018

 Contd
•Condition of bed with change in discharge

Very small discharge –sediment does not move

and bed behaves like a rigid bed

Increase in discharge-random movement of

individual particles on the bed

Further increase in discharge-considerable

sediment movement
•The condition when sediment particles of given
characteristic are just on the point of movement is
called the critical motion or incipient motion
Daniel A. Civil Eng-UU-2018
 Contd
Initiation of motion(tractive stress)
•Approach based on consideration of equilibrium of a
sediment particle resting on the bed under the action of:

Drag and lift exerted by the flowing fluid

Submerged weight of the particle
•The basic mechanism behind the phenomenon of sediment
transport is the drag force exerted by water (or fluid) in the
direction of flow, on the channel bed.

This force, which is nothing but a pull of water on the

wetted area is known as Tractive force or shear force
or drag force Daniel A. Civil Eng-UU-2018
 Contd

Considering equilibrium of prism abcd

P1 − P2 + W sin α − τ ∗ x ∗ P = 0
P1 and P2 are pressure forces U/S and D/S
Daniel A. Civil Eng-UU-2018
 Contd
P1 =P2 (Uniform Flow)

P is the wetted perimeter of the channel

W is the weight of water in the prism

α angle of channel bed with horizontal

τo is the shear stress at the boundary
W = A∗ X ∗γ w
A is the area of cross section of channel
γ w unit weight of water
Daniel A. Civil Eng-UU-2018
 Contd
A ∗ X ∗ γ W ∗ Sinα
τo = = γ W R sin α
P∗ X

Where R is the hydraulic mean radius

Also for small angle α

Sinα = tan α = S
τ o = γ w RS
Average unit tractive force, also
called shear stress
Daniel A. Civil Eng-UU-2018
 Contd
•Shield was the first investigator who provided a
semi-theoretical analysis of the problem of incipient
condition of bed motion

•Defined the critical tractive stress τ c as the average

shear stress τ o acting on the bed of the channel, at
which the sediment particle just begins to move.

•According to him, the bed particle begins to move

when the drag force(F1) exerted by the fluid on the particle,
just equals or exceeds the resistance(F2) offered by the particle
Daniel A. Civil Eng-UU-2018
to its movement
 Contd
•The drag force (F1) exerted by the flow is given by:

 1 2
F1 = K 1 C D • d • • ρ w • VO 
2

 2 

Where
K1 = a factor depending on the shape of the particle
CD = Coefficient of drag
d = the diameter of the particle
Vo = The velocity of the flow at the top of the particle
i.e. at the bottom of the channel
ρw =the density of the flowing fluid i.e. water
Daniel A. Civil Eng-UU-2018
 Contd
•Using the Karman-Prandtl equation for the velocity
distribution, the velocity of the flow at the bottom of the
channel(Vo) can be expressed as:
Vo  Vd  ∗ ∗
V ∗
= f1  
υ 
Or Vo = V f 1 • Re
∗
= f 1 • Re
τo
Where V∗ = shear friction velocity =
ρw
τo is the shear stress acting on the boundary of
the channel
υ = Kinematic viscosity of the flowing fluid (i.e.
water)
∗
Re = ParticleDaniel
Reynold Number
A. Civil Eng-UU-2018
 Contd
Also, the coefficient of drag CD is given by

 V ∗d 
C D = f 2• 
 υ 
∗
C D = f 2 • Re

Substituting values of Vo and CD in the drag force (F1)

∗ ∗ ∗
VO = V f1 • Re C D = f 2 • Re

Daniel A. Civil Eng-UU-2018

 Contd
(

)
∗ 1
( ∗ 2
F1 = K 1  f 2 • Re • d 2 • ρ w • V ∗ f1 • Re  )
 2 

 2 1 ∗3 
F1 =  K1 • f 2 • f1 . d 2 • ρ w • V ∗2 Re 
 2 

•The particle resistance (F2) is further given by:

[
F2 = K 2 d 3 • (ρ s − ρ w )g ]

Daniel A. Civil Eng-UU-2018

 Contd
 3  ρs  
F2 = K 2 d •  [
− 1 ρ w • g  = K 2 d 3 • (S s − 1)γ w ]
  ρw  
F2 = K 2 • γ w d 3 (S s − 1)

At the incipient motion condition, the two forces F1 and

F2 will be equal. Hence

Daniel A. Civil Eng-UU-2018

 Contd
 ∗3 
K • f
 1 2 1 2• f
2 1
. d 2
• ρ w • V ∗2
Re  = K 2 • γ w d 3
(S S − 1)
 
1 ∗3
K1 • f 2 • f1 • d 2 • ρ w • V ∗2 Re
2
 
2• 2 = 

2K 2

2 
• γ d 3
(S s − 1)
K1 • f 2 • f1  K1 • f 2 • f1 
2 w

 
∗2 ∗3


2K 2
 γ
2  w
d 3
(S s − 1)
ρ w • Vc Re  K1 • f 2 • f1 
=
γ w d (S s − 1)
3
γ w d 3 (S s − 1)
ρ wVc ∗2 Re ∗3  2K 2 

=
γ w d (S s − 1)  K1 • f 2 • f1 
3 2 

ρ wVc ∗2  2K 2 
=   • R
∗3

γ w d 3 (S s − 1)  K1 • f 2 • f12 
e

∗2
But
Daniel A. Civil Eng-UU-2018
ρ w • Vc = τ c
 Contd
•The left hand side term
is a dimensionless
τc number and
= F • R ∗ e(c) is called the Shield`s
γ w • d • (S s − 1)
Entrainment function,
and is
usually denoted by Fs

Fs = F • R ( ) ∗
e
At critical stage of bed
movement in a channel in
alluviums
Daniel A. Civil Eng-UU-2018
 τc
Contd
•The above mathematical work shows that Fs i.e. γ w • d (S s − 1) is
a function of Re ∗ at critical stage of bed movement

• Based on the experimental work done by shield graphs have

been plotted between Fs and Re* as shown in the figure.

•The application of shield curve becomes more simple when

particle Reynold number is more than 400, and as such Fs
becomes constant and equal to 0.056.

•Particle Reynold number representing roughness has been

found to be more than 400 when the particle size exceeds
6mm such as for “coarse alluvium soils”
Daniel A. Civil Eng-UU-2018
 Contd

Shields curve for incipient condition

Daniel A. Civil Eng-UU-2018
 Contd
•Hence, for designing non-scouring channels in coarse alluviums

τc γ w = 9.81 KN
= 0.056 For d>6mm m3
γ w d (S s − 1) Where γw =1 t
m3
γw = 1000 kgf
m3

•The average shear stress caused on the bed of a channel by

the flowing water is

τ o = γ w RS
Where
R = Hydraulic mean radius of the channel
S = Bed slope
Daniel A. Civil Eng-UU-2018
 Contd
Moreover,
τo ≤τc
τ o ≤ γ w d (S s − 1)(0.056)
γ w RS ≤ γ w d (S s − 1)(0.056)
RS ≤ d (S s − 1)(0.056)
RS ≤ d (2.65 − 1)(0.056)
d
RS ≤
11
d ≥ 11RS

Daniel A. Civil Eng-UU-2018

 Contd
•Mittal and Swamee has worked out a general relation
between τ c and d which gives results within +5% of the
values given by shields curve, for all values of d. The relation
for water and soil of Ss = 2.56 is given by the equation

τ c (N m ) = 0.155 +
2 0.409d 2 mm
1 + 0.177 d 2
mm

Daniel A. Civil Eng-UU-2018

 Example
#Water flows at a depth of 0.6m in a wide stream having a
bed slope of 1 in 2500. The median diameter of the sand
bed is 1mm. Determine whether the soil grains are stationary
or moving, and comment as to whether the stream bed is
scouring or non scouring

Solution
Since the given size of bed particles is 1mm, which is
less than 6mm. we can not use Shields equation, since Re*
in this case will be less than 400
τ c (N m ) = 0.155 +
2 0.409d 2 mm
1 + 0.177 d 2 mm
0.409 × 1
τ c = 0.155 +
1 + 0.177 × 1
Daniel A. Civil Eng-UU-2018
τ c = 0.53 N m 2
 Contd
τ o = γ w • R • S = 9.81 × 0.6 ×
1
2500
KN m 2
( )
τ o = 2.35 × 10 KN m
−3 2
R = y for wide streams
τ o = 2.35 N m 2

τ o = 2.35 N m > τ c = 0.53 N m

2 2

•Since τ o > τ c the soil grains will not be stationary, and the
scouring and sediment transport will occur
Daniel A. Civil Eng-UU-2018
 Estimation of Transported Sediment

• The quantity of sediment entering a river from the catchment is

an important factor.

• It fully controls the cross section and shape of the true regime
river.

• The sediment moving in water has already been classified

into:
 Bed Load
 Suspended Load

Daniel A. Civil Eng-UU-2018

 Contd
 Suspended Load and its Measurement

• After the threshold of motion has been passed due to increase

in flow velocities, and the sediment movement is well
established some of the sediment will be carried in suspension

• The material is kept in suspension by the turbulence, or

• By the generation of the eddies that rise from the

regions of higher sediment concentration to the regions
of lower sediment concentrations

Daniel A. Civil Eng-UU-2018

 Contd
 Rate of Suspended Load Transport
• The following equation is used to compute the sediment
concentration at different depths and thus plot a curve
between sediment concentration (c) and depth(y) as shown
in the figure. This curve is known as sedimentation
concentration curve.

Sediment concentration and

Velocity distribution curves for a channel
Daniel A. Civil Eng-UU-2018
 Contd
• When once this variation of sediment concentration with
depth is known, it can be integrated over the depth to
obtain total suspended load

• This integration also requires plotting of velocity distribution

curve

• Let us consider a flow strip of unit width and of thickness

dy at an elevation y

• The volume of suspended sediment transported past this

strip in a unit time Where c= the sediment
concentration (volume expressed as
 c 
 v • dy percentage at any elevation y,
 100  where the flow velocity is v
Daniel A. Civil Eng-UU-2018
 Contd
• Since the suspended sediment moves only on top of the bed
layers, the lower limit of integration can be considered as
equal to the thickness of the bed layer which is
approximated to be equal to 2d(d being grain size) and the
upper limit will certainly be D(total water depth)

y=D
c
qs = ∫ • v • dy
y =2 d
100
Where qs = rate of suspended
load transported in m3/s

Daniel A. Civil Eng-UU-2018

 Contd
• The sediment concentration at a distance y, can be
determined by Rouse equation by knowing the sediment
concentration (Ca) at a known distance a apart and with
a total water depth of D
wo Suspended load
C  a (D − y )  KV ∗ concentration equation
= 
C a  y (D − y ) 
τO
Wo is the fall velocity of a grain in still water ∗
V =
V* the shear friction velocity ρw

Daniel A. Civil Eng-UU-2018

 Contd
• The limitation of Rouse equation is that it cannot be used
directly to predict the sediment concentration at any point
unless the sediment concentration at come known
distance “a” above the channel bed is preknown

• The reference concentration Ca required to compute various

values of c needs to be predetermined

When the depth “a” is considered equal to 2d the

sediment concentration Ca or C2d can be considered
to be equal to the concentration of the bed load
since bed load is assumed to be existing up to 2d
above the bed
Daniel A. Civil Eng-UU-2018
 Contd
• Einstein has further computed the sediment concentration Ca
at depth a = 2d above bed is equal to

qb
Ca = C2d = ∗
× 100
23.2V d
τO
∗ γ w • R′ • S
V = =
γw ρw
ρ w • g • R ′S
V = ∗
= gR ′S
ρw

Daniel A. Civil Eng-UU-2018

 Example
#In a wide stream, a suspended load sample taken at a height
of 0.3m from the bed indicated a concentration of 1000ppm
of sediment weight. The stream is 5m deep and has a bed
slope of 1/4000. The bed material can be assumed to be of
uniform size with a fall velocity of 2cm/s. Estimate the
concentration of the suspended load at mid-depths
wo
C  a (D − y )  KV ∗
= 
C a  y (D − y ) 

Daniel A. Civil Eng-UU-2018

 Contd

Daniel A. Civil Eng-UU-2018

 Contd

Daniel A. Civil Eng-UU-2018

 Bed Load and Its Measurement
• Bed Load as explained earlier is the sediment material that
remains in the bottom layers of the flow and its movement
takes place by rolling, sliding and hopping (I.e Saltation)
depending up on the velocity of flow

• The bed load can be measured through quite unsatisfactorily

by various samplers such as box type sampler, slot type
sampler

• Bed load is also sometimes estimated by assuming it to be

between 3 to 25% of the total suspended load. A figure
of 10% is more commonly used
Daniel A. Civil Eng-UU-2018
 Mathematical Equations for bed load Contd

• The bed load is the sediment which moves along the bed
of the channel and this movement is caused by the shear
stress developed by the flowing water along the channel
bed.

• This shear force called the drag force or the tractive force is
thus fully responsible for the bed load movement
For usual turbulent flow and
for quartz grains, the value of
critical shear stress

Daniel A. Civil Eng-UU-2018

 Contd

Daniel A. Civil Eng-UU-2018

 Contd

Daniel A. Civil Eng-UU-2018

 Contd
Empirical Formula by DU-Bois
•Assumed that the rate of bed load transportation was
proportional to the excess of prevailing tractive force over
the critical value required to initiate movement
qb = K b • τ o (τ o − τ c )

Daniel A. Civil Eng-UU-2018

 Shield`s Formula (1936) Contd
•A dimensionally homogeneous equation for sediment of
uniform size, taking into account the effect of specific gravity
of sediment (Ss) was proposed by shield as:
qS s  τ o −τ c 
= 10  
qb γ
 w • d (S s − 1) 

Daniel A. Civil Eng-UU-2018

 Meyer-Peter`s Formula (1948) Contd
•Meyer and Peter has suggested that the unit tractive force
causing bed load to move is reduced by ripples in the ratio of
3
′  n′  2
τo =τo • 
n
•The effective unit tractive force going to cause bed load
transportation is then given by:   n′  
τ = τ −τ eff  o n  c 
   
•Meyer and Peter(1948) has
suggested the following
formula for calculating the
quantity of bed load transport

Daniel A. Civil Eng-UU-2018

 Contd

Daniel A. Civil Eng-UU-2018

 Contd
Einstein`s Formula (1950)
•Every particle after it is dislodged from the bed, travels a
certain minimum distance L(which is proportional to the grain
diameter) before coming to rest

3
qb  τo 
= 40 •   wo = G • Gd (S S − 1)
wo d  γ w d (S s − 1) 

2 36v 2 36v 2
G= + −
3
(S sA.−Civil1)Eng-UU-2018gd 3 (S s − 1)
3 gd Daniel
 Example
# Determine the rate of bed load transport in a wide alluvium
stream for the flowing data:

Depth of flow = 4.5m

Velocity of flow = 1.3m/s
Bed slope = 2 × 10-4

Size distribution of the sediment:

d(mm) 0.20 0.44 0.78 1.14 1.65 3.6 5.2
% finer 2 10 30 50 70 80 100

Make use of Einstein`s formula for bed load. Kinematic

viscosity of water = 1.01×10
Daniel A.-6
m/s
Civil Eng-UU-2018
 Contd
Solution:
Where R = D (for wide streams) = 4.5
1 V = 1.3m/s
V = •R • s
23

n S = 2×10-4
1
V = • R2 3 • s
n
1.3 = • (4.5) • 2 × 10 − 4
1 23

n
n = 0.02965

• (d 50 )
1
n′ = Where d50 = 1.14mm from
16

24
the given table = 1.14×10-
n′ =
1
24
(
• 1.14 × 10 −3 )
16
= 0Daniel
.0135 3mm
A. Civil Eng-UU-2018
 n ′ 0.0135
Contd
= = 0.454
n 0.02965
 n′ 
32

′
R = R  = 4.5(0.454) = 1.377 m
32

n

Using equation, we have

wo = G • gd (S s − 1)

2 36v 2 36v 2
G= + 3 −
3 gd (S s − 1) gd 3 (S s − 1)

G=
2
+
36 × 1.01×10 ( −
)
−6 2
36 × 1.01×10
= 0.778
( −6 2
)
3 9.81× 1.14 ×10 −
(
3 3
• 1.65 )
9.81× 1.14 × 10 − 3 −3
• 1.65 ( )

(
wo = 0.778 9.81 × 1.14 × 10 −3 (1.65) = 0.105 m s )
Daniel A. Civil Eng-UU-2018
 Contd
3
qb  γ w R ′S   R ′S 
= 40   = 40 
wo • d  γ w d (S s − 1)   d (S s − 1) 
3
qb  1.377 × 2 × 10  −4
= 40  
1.14 × 10 (1.65) 
−3 −3
0.105 × 1.14 × 10
qb = 1.5027 × 10 −5 m 3 / s / m width of the channel

Bed load by weight (gb)

g b = qb • γ w • S s
( )
g b = 1.5027 × 10 −5 × 9.81 × 10 3 × 2.65 N s / m = 0.39 N s / m
Daniel A. Civil Eng-UU-2018