Transporting capacity of overland flow on plane and on irregular beds

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
In this paper the transporting capacity of thin flows, in the laminar and transitional flow regime, is studied. Experiments were carried out on irregular as well as on plane beds, using two totally different set‐ups. The results of these two types of experiment were convergent. In both cases, sediment concentration was clearly related to grain shear velocity and unit stream power, expressed as the product of mean velocity and slope (Yang, 1973). The data agreed with those of Kramer and Meyer (1969). For a sandy bed, the unit stream power relationship was able to predict reasonably well the sediment concentrations measured on a mulched surface. For laminar and transitional flows, both the unit stream power and the shear velocity are related in the same way to slope and unit discharge. The unit stream power is a parameter which in particular can be very easily measured and might therefore become useful in obtaining a quick estimate of the transporting capacity of a thin flow. However, before a sediment transport equation for thin flows can be developed, more information is needed about the influence of the flow regime and grain size and density.

This publication has 11 references indexed in Scilit: