Physics of Sediment

Transport
Dr. Eng. Widyaningtias

1
Landform: Floodplain
http://www.geo.umass.edu/faculty/cooke/geo101/GeologicTime.htm
Faunal Succession Principles applied
to Sedimentary
Rocks

Original Horizontality

Superposition Time
 Sediment
Sediment - loose, solid particles originating
from:
Weathering and erosion of pre-existing rocks
Chemical precipitation from solution, including
secretion by organisms in water
Classified by particle size
Boulder - >256 mm
Cobble - 64 to 256 mm Gravel
Pebble - 2 to 64 mm
Sand - 1/16 to 2 mm
Silt - 1/256 to 1/16 mm
Clay - <1/256 mm
 Sediment
The larger the sediment particle, the less readily it is picked up
by flow at a given speed, and if picked up, the shorter the
distance it is likely to travel before re-settling

Clay and silt are considered fine sediments

Sand and gravel are considered coarse sediment

Note: Protocols for cobble bed mountain streams may differ,

where fines may be considered anything less than 5.6 mm.

7
Sedimentary Rock
 100

Fall velocity, cms-1

10

0.1

Grain diameter, cm
0.01

00.001 0.01 0.1 1.0

Silt
Silt Sand
Sand Gravel
Grav l
e 9
Fall velocity in relation to diameter of a spherical grain of quartz
Figure 4.2: Fall velocity in relation to diameter of a spherical grain of quartz
 Sediment Characterization
Sediment grain smoothness

Sediment grain shape - spherical, elongated, or flattened

Sediment sorting

% Finer

10
Grain size
 Sediment Transport
Two important concepts
Gravitational forces - sediment settling out of
suspension
Current-generated bottom shear stresses - sediment
transport in suspension (suspended load) or along
the bottom (bedload)

Shields stress - brings these concepts together

empirically to tell us when and how sediment
transport occurs

11
 Entrainment
Basic forces acting on particle
Gravity, drag force, lift force
Gravity:
Drag force: measure of friction between water and
bottom of water (channel)/ particles
Lift force: caused by Bernouli effect
 Rivers: Two main kinds
Alluvial rivers; bed consists of sediment
(alluvium = river-associated sediment)
Downstream reaches
Bedrock rivers; part of the bed is bare
rock, where river cutting down
generally in upper reaches of rivers
Alluvial Rivers

Photo by Duncan Heron

Landform: Floodplain
 Bedrock Rivers
Erosion rate depends on slope
Presence of sediment (tools) increases
erosion
 Rivers: Sediment transport
Three modes:
Dissolved load/wash load (ions in solution -
pollution)
Suspended load
Fine particles (sand, silt & clay)
Turbulent eddies pick up, carry upward if vel.
> settling vel.
Bedload
On/near bed; rolling, bouncing (saltating),
etc.
Suspended and bedload increase rapidly with
flow strength (nonlinear relationship)
River: Sediment Transport

Bed-load transport: sliding, rolling,

saltating
Suspended transport: sediment moves
through the fluid

Suspension

Sediment Bed-load

Bed
The amount and size of sediment moving through a river channel are
determined by three fundamental controls: competence, capacity and
sediment supply.

Competence refers to the largest size

(diameter) of sediment particle or grain that the
flow is capable of moving; it is a hydraulic
limitation
Capacity refers to the maximum amount of
sediment of a given size that a stream can
transport in traction as bedload
Sediment supply refers to the amount and size
of sediment available for sediment transport

20
21
 Descriptions of Sediment Load
Ability to Measure
Measured Load-Sediment that
can be measured with a sampler
Un-Measured Load-Sediment in the
lowest portion of the water column
that cannot be measured with most
samplers
Mode of Transport Location in River
Suspended Load-Sediment that
can be found at any depth. Includes
fine and coarse sediment Wash Load sediment that
passes over bed without deposition.
exchanges with banks/floodplain
Bed Load-Sediment that
Bed Material Load sediment that
creeps or hops along bed
exchanges with and is found in
(coarse material)
measureable quantities in bed
22
 Bed-load transport

Once the forces acting

on particles are strong
enough to intiate motion

Figure from Chanson, p. 200

particles slide, roll, and

saltate down the river bed
at a steady rate.
Figure from Chanson, p. 180
 X
Bed Load Vs
Y M A B

G

H

F E D C K X

Sketch & Bathymetry from Dvd Abraham

Bed load moves in waves at a certain and Thad Pratt, ERDC

speed (or celerity). The celerity (c) is given

by dividing the distance x by time t.

Problem is that measuring c is difficult and

expensive, and calculating it is uncertain even
with good models and data.

Often we just assume that bed load is 5% to

15% of the total sediment load. 24
Bed load

Particles entrained at the bed-

load layer
Transported by convection
(transfer heat), diffusion, and
turbulence

25
Suspended Transport

Particles entrained at
the bed-load layer
Transported by
Suspension convection, diffusion,
occurs here and turbulence

Figure from Chanson, p. 200

 Intermittently-suspended or
saltation load
Hickin: River Geomorphology: Chapter 4
saltation load transport
as water surface

umn) Flow direction

ough
nd
river bed

of
Figure 4.5: The trajectory of saltating (intermittently-
ts are suspended) sediment grains moving in the flow. 27
 Suspended Load Curves
(based on measured SS)

Suspended sediment
can be measured using
samplers

A plot of suspended
sediment load versus
water discharge. Note
order of magnitude
variation.

28
the vertical water column distributed as depicted in Figure 4.4.

A B

Coarse Fine Fine Fine Fine Coarse

sand sand silt silt sand sand

Height above the bed, m

Height above the bed, m

Concentration, mg/L Grain size, D50, cm

Figure 4.4: Typical vertical profiles of suspended-sediment concentration (A) & grain size in open-channel flows.
Typical vertical profiles of suspended-sediment concentration (A) &
grain size in open-channel flows (B).

The size and concentration of suspended-sediment typically varies logarithmically with height
29
above the bed. That is, concentration and grain size form linear plots with the logarithm of
A
C

B Figure 4.6: Examples of suspended-

sediment rating curves.

A: Rio Grande, Albuquerque, New

Mexico (after Nordin & Beverage,
1965, in Knighton, 1998).

B: River Bolin, UK (from Knighton,

1998).

C: Squamish River, BC (from

Hickin, 1989)
 concentration in
ith an instrument
nded-sediment
gure 4.3. The
cast housing with
that allows water
mple bottle. Air
ample bottle is
mall valve on the
The sampler can
he water column
in Figure 4.3) or
a hand-held rod if
nough to wade. In
er is lowered from
the bed and up to
a constant rate so A cable-mounted DH48 suspended-sediment sampler attached to the underside of a 31
heavy lead fish for collecting samples on a large river from a boat
Figure 4.3: A cable-mounted DH48 suspended-sediment
 Dissolved Load
material that has gone into solution and is
part of the fluid moving through the
channel
it does not depend on forces in the flow to
keep it in the water column
ions in solution - pollution

32
 Hickin: River Geomorphology: Chapter 4

River Drainage Mean Mean Mean Percentage of

area, Discharge suspended dissolved total load
103 km2 103m3s-1 Sediment load load carried in
106 t y-1 106 t y-1 solution
AFRICA
Congo 3500 41.1 48 37 44
Niger 1200 4.9 25 14 36
Nile 3000 1.2 2 12 86
Orange 1000 0.4 0.7 1.6 70
Zambezi 540 2.4 20 25 56

ASIA
Ganges/Brahmaputra 1480 30.8 1670 151 8
Huang Ho 752 1.1 900 22 2
Indus 1170 7.5 100 79 44
Irrawaddy 430 13.6 265 91 26
Lena 2440 16.0 12 56 82
Mekong 795 21.1 160 59 27
Ob 2990 13.7 13 46 78
Yenisei 2500 17.6 15 60 80

AUSTRALIA
Murray-Darling 1060 0.7 30 8.2 21

EUROPE
Danube 817 6.5 83 53 39
Dnieper 527 1.7 2.1 11 84
Rhone 99 1.9 40 56 58
Volga 1459 7.7 27 54 67

NORTH AMERICA
Columbia 670 5.8 14 21 60
Mackenzie 1810 7.9 100 44 31
Mississippi 3267 18.4 210 142 40
St Lawrence 1150 13.1 5.1 70 93
Yukon 840 6.7 60 34 36 Sediment loads of major world
rivers (after Knighton, 1998:
SOUTH AMERICA
Amazon 6150 200 900 290 24 Figure 3.2). Sources: Degens et
Magdalena 260 6.8 220 20 8 al (1991), Meybeck (1976) and
Orinoco 990 36 150 31 17 Milliman and Meade (1983). 33
Parana 2800 15 80 38 32
Braided stream
 Braided streams are
bedload dominated
Nonlinear sediment
transport laws result in
dynamic feedbacks
Meandering stream; Point Bar and Cut Bank
Point Bars and Cutbanks along river meanders

Santee River, SC Photo by Duncan Heron

Neuse River, NC

Note point bars

Photo by Duncan Heron

Oxbow lake formation
Photo by Duncan Heron
Incised Meanders
Natural Levee formation
Too Much/Too Little Sediment
Problems with too much sediment
Raised flood profiles
Reduced underwater light
Decreased capacity of hydraulic structures
Problems with too little sediment
Incision (channel lowering)
Delta loss
Scour at hydraulic structures

44
Artificial Levees
Levee Failures
Flood of Record Washed Out
Railroad, Undermined Houses

47
River Meandering and
Effects of 0.2 % Chance
Flood

48
Crevasse Splay Deposits, Mississippi River
Natural River - 1948
1964
 Graded Stream Profile
Each stretch of alluvial river tends to have slope
adjusted to transport sediment delivered to it
Slope too low, sediment piles up at upstream end
-> slope increases
Slope too high, erosion (less in than out) at
upstream end
-> slope decreases
Need steeper slope with
Less flow
Larger grains
Base Level Changes
Dam cuts off sediment flux
 Sources, Sinks, Pathways

Rio Puerco, NM
Sources Source
Bed
Banks (Bluffs) Sink
Ravines & Gullys
Watershed

Watershed Sources depend on:

geology and topography of the watershed
magnitude, intensity, duration, and distribution of rainfall
vegetative cover; and the extent of cultivation and grazing.

Regression methods are used to develop soil loss relationships

55
Erosion of a
River Bend

Source Sink

Geotechnical Failure From Bend

Migration And Toe Erosion

Low Flow Cross Section

High Flow Cross Section 56
 Sources, Sinks, Pathways
Sinks
Floodplains

Valley side slopes

Deltas

Off - channel areas

USACE Dredges

Most rivers cannot transport all of the sediment that is

eroded within its channels and watersheds, so every
river system has sinks for sediment. 57
 Sources, Sinks, Pathways
The capacity of a stream to transport sediment depends on hydraulic
properties of the stream channel and sediment properties

Sediment Transport = F (hydraulic properties & sediment properties)

slope
velocity grain size distribution
channel geometry cohesiveness
roughness

58
59
 Sediment Effects on Water Quality

The majority of sediment

US Army Cor ps

transport in a given year

of Engineers
St. Pau l District

occurs during seasonal high

water events

Sediment transport during

other times can have a
significant effect on underwater
light, nutrient loads, substrate.

60
Use Multiple Tools for Sediment Transport and
Geomorphological Analysis

Field Investigations
Existing conditions substrate, bankfull conditions, vegetation, discussion with
local experts
Surveys
Cross sections, profiles, sediment cores
Analytical Techniques
Numerical Models
Watershed models
River models
Aerial photo comparisons
Change from Historic conditions
Sediment Budgets
Specific Stage Discharge Analysis
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 Calculating Sediment Transport
There are dozens of sediment transport functions that
predict sediment transport based on:
sediment size, weight, and fall velocity
water velocity and depth
channel width
channel slope and roughness
water temperature
Many assumptions are made
Choose functions appropriate for your conditions

62
Lanes Balance says that sediment discharge and sediment
grain size tend to balance against water discharge and slope

63
Sediment Transport Models

Difficult problem most

models are empirical.
Usually make
simplifying assumptions
about flow.
Many different formulas
exist.
 Geomorphic Response to
Watershed Development
Floodplain Deposition, Channel Incision
WHITEWATER RIVER MAIN STEM UPSTREAM
OF BEAVER, Data from NRCS
735.0

730.0

725.0
ELEVATION

720.0

715.0

710.0
0
-100

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1000

1100

1200

1300

1400

1500

1600

1700

1800

1900
STATION
1939 1994

65
 Highway 61 Bridge
Canadian Pacific RR Bridge

Whitewater River Avulsion

August 2007

New Mouth of
Whitewater River

Whitewater River shortened

By about 6,000
Old Mouth of
Whitewater River

66
Culvert Outlet Failure

67
 Channelization

Sediment Deposition,
Loss of Capacity

Agricultural Levee Break

68
Geomorphic Response to Raised Water Levels
In Lower Pool 8

Island Loss And Erosion

Increased Connectivity
Sediment Deposition
1938 1954 1991

69
 Bridge 87015
TH 212 over Minnesota
River Overflow Abutment
Fill and Approach Panel
Lost

Q500 = 7,300 cfs

Q1997 = 10,000 cfs
Excerpts from Inspectors Notes:
4/4 108 below NW, channel has
shifted to east
4/5 69 from SE wingwall, deck
vibrating, riprap eroded, looking
down through water.
4/6 2:00 PM Panel undermined,
water flowing under it.
70
4/6 5:00 PM Panel fell in.
 Bridge
54002
Bridge is still
structurally stable, but
from the travelers
perspective it failed.

71
Long Lake Water Control Structure
after 2001 Flood

72
Break!

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 Dimensi
Properti fisik dinyatakan dengan
menggunakan dimensi:
Massa / M
Panjang / L
Waktu / T
Suhu / To
 Dimensi
Dimensi fundamental adalah parameter
terukur yang dapat dihitung/diukur dalam
satuan fundamental.
SI:
Massa / M kilogram, kg
Panjang / L meter, m
Waktu / T detik/second, s
Suhu / To Kelvin, K celcius C
 Dimensi
1 newton didefinisikan sebagai suatu gaya yang
dibutuhkan untuk dapat menghasilkan percepatan 1 m/s2
pada massa 1 kg.

Apabila percepatan gravitasi adalah 9,81 m/s2 maka

benda dengan massa 1 kg akan memiliki berat 9,81 N.

Kerja/energi yang diperlukan = 1 joule = 1 Nm

Daya = Energi/satuan waktu = 1 watt = 1 joule/second

 Sifat Fisik Air
Rapat massa air maksimum = 1000 kg/m3
pada suhu 4oC.
Rapat massa air laut = 1025 kg/m3 pada
permukaan air laut;
Berat jenis air, 9810 N/m3 pada suhu 4oC.
 Sifat Fisik Air

Viskositas dinamik:

Apabila fluida mengalami deformasi, maka

kecepatan pada fluida yang berada di
permukaan pembatas akan sama dengan
kecepatan pembatas tersebut.
 Dynamic and Kinematic Viscosity

The Dynamic Viscosity m is a measure of how much a

fluid resists shear. It has units of kg m-1 s-1
The Kinematic viscosity n is defined

=
f

where rf is the density of the fluid. m has units of m2 s-1,

the units of a diffusion coefficient. It measures how
quickly velocity perturbations diffuse through the fluid.

79
 Sifat Fisik Air
Tegangan geser:

Dimensi dasar viskositas dinamik: M/LT,

viskositas dinamik akan menurun apabila
suhu meningkat.
 Molecular and Eddy Viscosities
Molecular kinematic viscosity:
property of FLUID

Eddy kinematic viscosity:

property of FLOW

In flows in nature (ocean), eddy

viscosity is MUCH MORE
IMPORTANT!

About 104 times more important

81
 Sifat Fisik Air
Dimensi dasar viskositas dinamik: M/LT, viskositas dinamik akan
menurun apabila suhu meningkat.
Fluida dengan viskositas dinamik konstan disebut fluida Newton.
Viskositas dinamik air pada 20oC adalah 1 centipoise = 1cP = 0,01
P = 0,001 Ns/m2 = 0,001 Pa.s
Viskositas kinematik, , dimensi L2/T

Viskositas dinamik air pada 20oC adalah 1 centistokes = 1cS = 0,01

cm2/s = 1 x 10-6 m2/s.
 Sifat Fisik air
Surface area, A

Shear stress
Velocity, vx

Jarak, z
 Sifat Fisik Sedimen
Sifat sedimen dapat ditinjau dalam keadaan:
Partikel tunggal
Campuran sedimen
Sedimen tersuspensi
 Sifat Fisik Sedimen
Rapat massa partikel padat, rs, didefinisikan sebagai
massa padat per satuan volume. Rapat massa partikel

quartz , 2.650 kg/m3.

Berat jenis partikel padat, gs, merupakan berat partikel

padat per satuan volume partikel tersebut.

Berat jenis spesifik, G, merupakan perbandingan berat

jenis partikel padat terhadap berat jenis suatu fluida
pada suatu suhu standar.
 Sifat Fisik Sedimen
Apabila digunakan air dengan suhu 4oC sebagai
fluida referensi, maka untuk partikel kuarsa,
akan diperoleh

Apabila partikel padat terendam dalam air maka

berat jenis partikel dalam keadaan ini adalah:
 Sifat Fisik Sedimen
Ukuran sedimen, D
Boulder: D > 256 mm
Cobble: 64 < D < 256 mm
Gravel: 2 < D < 64 mm
Sand: 0,062 < D < 2 mm
Silt: 0,004 < D < 0,062 mm
Clay: 0,00024 < D < 0,004 mm
 f Diameter, Type of
Sediment D material
-6 64 mm Cobbles
Characterization -5 32 mm Coarse Gravel
-4 16 mm Gravel
There are number of -3 8 mm Gravel
-2 4 mm Pea Gravel
ways to describe the size
-1 2 mm Coarse Sand
of sediment. One of the 0 1 mm Coarse Sand
1 0.5 mm Medium Sand
most popular is the
2 0.25 mm Fine Sand
scale. f= -log2(D) 3 125 m Fine Sand
4 63 m Coarse Silt
D = diameter in
5 32 m Coarse Silt
millimeters.
6 16 m Medium Silt
To get D from f 7 8 m Fine Silt
8 4 m Fine Silt
D = 2-f 88
9 2 m Clay
 Sediment Characterization
Sediment grain smoothness

Sediment grain shape - spherical, elongated, or flattened

Sediment sorting

% Finer

89
Grain size
Sifat Fisik Sedimen
Sifat Fisik Sedimen
 Sifat Fisik Sedimen
Koefisien gradasi: koefisien gradasi
menunjukkan komposisi ukuran butiran.

Makin tinggi koefisien gradasi menunjukkan

makin tidak seragam.

Nilai koefisien tinggi menunjukkan bahwa

campuran sedimen ini adalah well graded.
Sifat Fisik Sedimen
Sifat Fisik Sedimen
 Sifat Fisik Sedimen
Tegangan geser kritis, thoc, dan kecepatan
geser kritis u*c,

Shear stress:
silt : 0,1 Pa,
sand: 0,50 Pa,
gravel 1,26 26 Pa,
Coble: 53 111 Pa,
Boulder 223 1790 Pa.
 Sifat Fisik Sedimen
Volumetric sedimen concentration

Unit konsentrasi pada umumnya dalam

miligram per liter.
Konsentrasi dalam rasio berat:
 Sifat Fisik Sedimen
Cppm=106Cw
C mg/l =rho.g.Cv=106 mg/l G Cv
Kecepatan jatuh (settling velocity)

Berat jenis campuran

 Sifat Fisik Sedimen
Porositas, po = Vv/Vt = e/ (1+e), e = Vv/Vs
Berat jenis kering:
Break!

99
Kinematics

100
Kinematik Aliran
Kinematika Aliran
Kinematika Aliran
Kinematika Aliran
 Shields Stress

When will transport occur and by

what mechanism?

105
Hjulstrm Diagram

106
 Shields stress and the critical shear stress

The Shields stress, or Shields parameter, is:

f =
( )
p f gD

Shields (1936) first proposed an empirical

relationship to find c, the critical Shields shear stress
to induce motion, as a function of the particle
Reynolds number,
Rep = u*D/
107
Shields curve (after Miller et al., 1977)
- Based on empirical observations

Sediment Transport

Transitional
No Transport

108
Initiation of Suspension
If u* > ws, (i.e., shear velocity > settling velocity) then
material will be suspended.

Suspension Transitional transport

mechanism. Compare Bedload
u* and ws

No Transport

109