Author
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JIN, CHANG-XING - INST. OF GEOGRAPHY, CHINA |
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Romkens, Mathias |
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Submitted to: Transactions of the ASAE
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Publication Acceptance Date: 10/1/1999 Publication Date: N/A Citation: N/A Interpretive Summary: Certain sediment transport studies in the Laboratory require equipment that can add sediment in an uniform and consistent manner to a stream flow. A commonly used instrument for this type of research is the Syntron vibra- flow sediment feeder. Its operational principle is based on imparting a vibration of given frequency and amplitude to a hopper, which is supplied with sediment by a feeder. However, the current commerically available feeders have a hopper which is only 10 cm wide while the flow in the flume, especially in studies of shallow overland flow, required a much larger width. This paper discusses a modified Syntron vibra-flow feeder which allows the precipitation of soil and sediment particles in a stream flow of 64 cm width. The modification consists of placing a "gate" in the pathway of the sediment falling from the hopper. The diverted sediment falls then directly onto a cone-shaped sediment dispersing fan. Tests showed that the emodified feeder worked well and that an acceptable distribution of sedimen addition to the stream flow could be obtained. Technical Abstract: An improved Syntron vibra-flow sediment feeder is designed. The improved feeder consisted of placing a "gate" in the pathway of the falling sand which then was distributed by a cone-shaped sediment dispersing fan. The feeder has all the advantages of the original feeder but can deliver sediment fairly uniformly up to a width of 64 cm. Tests with two sand sizes and one soil showed that the improved feeder works well. The maximum deviations over the delivery zone were 10%, 15.6%, and 22.1% for coarse sand, fine sand, and the soil, respectively. |
