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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Oxford, Mississippi » National Sedimentation Laboratory » Watershed Physical Processes Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #385459
Research Project: Computational Tools and a Decision Support System for Management of Sediment and Water Quality in Agricultural Watersheds

Location: Watershed Physical Processes Research

Title: Dam-break flow measurements of liquid-granular mixtures in a channelized reservoir

Author
item REBILLOUT, LUC - University Of Mississippi
item OZEREN, YAVUZ - University Of Mississippi
item ALTINAKER, MUSTAFA - Argonne National Laboratory

Submitted to: Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/24/2020
Publication Date: 9/23/2020
Citation: Rebillout, L., Ozeren, Y., Altinaker, M. 2020. Dam-break flow measurements of liquid-granular mixtures in a channelized reservoir. Journal of Hydraulic Engineering. 146(12):04020080.

Interpretive Summary: This paper investigates dam-break flows of granular material in a laboratory flume. Non-intrusive image analysis measurement methodologies were used to obtain bulk flow parameters and detailed flow characteristics. High-speed cameras were used to capture the evolution and local properties of the flow. The extracted profiles were used to measure the evolution of the volume of the granular matrix and the fluid phase separately upstream and downstream of the gate, which allowed measuring the dilatancy. The study showed that the image analysis techniques are versatile and can be adapted to measure different flow parameters in a variety of granular flows to better understand and analyze their complex behavior. The advantages and drawbacks of each image analysis technique were discussed and best-practice recommendations were provided.

Technical Abstract: Dam-break flows of granular materials exhibit a complex non-Newtonian rheology, which is strongly influenced by various factors, such as the characteristics of the granular material, the degree of initial compaction, and saturation level of the granular matrix. Specially adapted nonintrusive techniques are required to investigate these flows in the laboratory. This paper investigated the nonintrusive technique of image analysis. The methodologies used in the measurement of bulk flow parameters, such as flow depth, front velocity, and flow rate, and the extraction of detailed flow characteristics such as velocity profiles, were discussed in the context of a series of granular dam-break flow experiments. These experiments were performed under three types of initial conditions: dry, saturated (water filling the pore space), and submerged (a layer of saturated granular material submerged under water) using four types of granular materials—PET pellets, crushed walnut shells, urea, and sand—with grain sizes ranging from 200 µm to 2.9 mm. High-speed cameras were used to capture the evolution and local properties of the flow, such as velocity fields using particle image velocimetry (PIV). Bulk properties of the flow were obtained by tracking the surface profile of the granular matrix and the water table. The extracted profiles were used to measure the evolution of the volume of the granular matrix and the fluid phase separately upstream and downstream of the gate, which allowed measuring the dilatancy (increase in pore space). The study showed that the image analysis techniques are versatile and can be adapted to measure different flow parameters in a variety of granular flows to better understand and analyze their complex behavior. The advantages and drawbacks of each image analysis technique were discussed and best-practice recommendations were provided.