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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Oxford, Mississippi » National Sedimentation Laboratory » Watershed Physical Processes Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #130637
Title: DISTORTED FROUDE-SCALED FLUME ANALYSIS OF LARGE WOODY DEBRIS

Author
item WALLERSTEIN, N - UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM
item Alonso, Carlos
item Bennett, Sean
item THORNE, C - UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM

Submitted to: American Geophysical Union
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/15/2001
Publication Date: 12/12/2001
Citation: Wallerstein, N., Alonso, C.V., Bennett, S.J., Thorne, C. 2002. Distorted froude-scaled flume analysis of large woody debris. American Geophysical Union Abstracts, v. 82, p. F415.

Interpretive Summary: IS is not required for Abstract.

Technical Abstract: This paper presents the results of a movable-boundary, distorted, Froude- scaled hydraulic model based on Abiaca Creek, a sand-bedded channel in northern Mississippi. The model was used to examine the geomorphic and hydraulic impact of simplified Large Woody Debris (LWD) elements. The theory of physical scale models is discussed and the method used to construct the LWD test channel is developed. The channel model has bed and banks molded from 0.8 mm sand, and flow conditions were just below the threshold of motion so that any sediment transport and channel adjustment were the result of the debris element. Elements were attached to a dynamometer to measure element drag forces, and channel adjustment was determined through detailed topographic surveys. The fluid drag force on the element decreased asymptotically over time as the channel boundary eroded around the element due to locally increased boundary shear stress. Total time for geomorphic adjustment computed for the prototype channel at the Q2 discharge was as short as 45 hours. The size, depth and position of scour holes, bank erosion and bars created by flow acceleration past the elements were found to be related to element length and position within the channel cross-section. Morphologies created by each debris element in the model channel were comparable with similar jams observed in the prototype channel.