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To cite this article: S. Mahmood Borghei & Aidin Jabbari Sahebari (2010) Local scour at open-channel junctions, Journal of
Hydraulic Research, 48:4, 538-542
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00221686.2010.492107
Technical note
S. MAHMOOD BORGHEI (IAHR Member), Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Sharif University
of Technology, Tehran, Iran.
Email: mahmood@sharif.edu (author for correspondence)
AIDIN JABBARI SAHEBARI, MS Graduate, Water Resources Engineering, Sharif University of Technology,
Tehran, Iran.
Email: jabbaria@uregina.ca
ABSTRACT
High bed-shear stress resulting from secondary ows and velocity increase at a channel junction cause local erosion and deposition in natural rivers and
earth-lined channels. Herein, the scour patterns at the junction of two loose bed channels were studied under clear-water conditions. The main dimensionless variables are the angle between the two approach ow branches, the discharge and width ratios of the tributary to the downstream channel
branches, and the ratio of the mean downstream velocity to the threshold velocity. The results indicate that the position of the maximum scour
depth temporally moves to the outer wall and upstream to the main channel, as affected by the dimensionless variables. The effects of these variables
are given in graphs and are expressed with a formula for maximum scour depth.
Introduction
Test setup
Test variables
Besides the three junction angles u (50o, 70o and 90o), test variables include b Bb/Bd 0.5 and 1.0, which is the ratio of
Vc
hd
= 5.75 log 5.53
,
uc
d50
(1)
using u c (m/s) and d50 (mm). To conrm the validity of Eq. (1),
the threshold velocity without the tributary branch was checked
in the main channel. The results indicated that sediment is
entrained if V . 0.95Vc, if Vc is determined from Eq. (1). Note
that the threshold denition is different among researchers (e.g.
Henderson 1966 or Paintal 1971).
All tests lasted up to 48 h and the measurement of bed surface
elevation was taken at 15 min, 45 min, 24 h and 48 h from test
start. Preliminary tests lasted up to 72 h and with more time intervals, resulting in the 48 h test duration and the intervals stated
above. The bed topography was measured by a digital depth
meter of +0.01 mm accuracy using a 5 cm square grid. The
location of reference depth hd was not inuenced by the conuence ow (Fig. 2).
The minimum Reynolds number R VD/y , where D is the
hydraulic diameter and y the kinematic uid viscosity was
12,458 for the downstream branch ow to minimize the effect
of viscosity. Also the ow depth was larger than the minimum
required for elimination of surface tension effects (Novak and
Cabelka 1981). The test results indicate that the ow depth
downstream of the junction decreases with increasing u, Qbd
and V/Vc, in agreement with Taylor (1944), Gurram et al.
(1997) or Weber et al. (2001). Only the results for u 508 are
presented here, while the results from all three test angles are
considered in Section 4.
3
3.1
539
Experimental details
Results
Discharge ratio
The results for Qbd 0.25, 0.5, and 0.8 with constant V/Vc
0.5 are shown in Fig. 3, indicating that the maximum scour
depth moves to the outer wall with time. For higher Qbd
540
Figure 3 Bed contour variation with time (from top 15 min, 45 min, 24 h to 48 h at bottom), u 508, V/Vc 0.5, b 1 for (a) Qbd 0.25,
(b) Qbd 0.5 and (c) Qbd 0.8
Figure 4 Bed proles hs(x) along maximum scour depth for u 508,
V/Vc 0.8, Qbd 0.8, b 1
3.2
Non-dimensional velocity
3.3
Width ratio
541
3.5
hsmax 2.094
1.237
= 0.461 (sin u)2.393 Q0.338
bd (V /Vc )
hd
b
(3)
Junction angle
where hsmax is the maximum scour depth at the end of each test
run and hd the downstream ow depth. Figure 8 compares the
measured versus the calculated hsmax/hd within +10%. The
junction angle is one of the main effects. Most of the previous
studies have considered it as the major inuence (Best 1988,
Ashmore and Parker 1983), as is also reected in Eq. (3).
Figure 6 Maximum scour hole depth hsmax (cm) versus u (8) for
various V/Vc and b, Qbd 0.8
Figure 8 Measured versus from Eq. (3) calculated maximum nondimensional scour hole depths hsmax/hd
542
Conclusions
For local scour under clear-water conditions in a river conuence, the important non-dimensional variables are the junction
angle, width and discharge ratio of tributary to the main branches
and the ratio of mean downstream velocity to threshold velocity.
Figures 3 7 show the effects of these parameters, as well as of
time, on the scour hole depth and its positions. Equation (3)
reects the effect of these variables on the maximum scour
depth. Note that for a more general conclusion these responsible
factors for the scouring pattern, its location and the scour hole
depth need to be considered under more detailed investigations
with an improved experimental set-up.
Notation
channel width
grain size
median grain size
ow depth
scour depth
discharge
Reynolds number
critical shear velocity
ow velocity downstream of the main channel
velocity at threshold condition
ratio of tributary branch width Bb to main channel width
Bd (Bb/Bd)
u junction angle
sg sediment non-uniformity
B
d
d50
h
hs
Q
R
u c
V
Vc
b
Subscripts
b
bd
d
max
u
tributary
tributary to downstream
downstream of main
maximum
upstream
References
Ashmore, P.E., Parker, G. (1983). Conuence scour in coarse
braided streams. Water Resour. Res. 19(2), 392402.
Best, J.L. (1987). Flow dynamics at river channel conuences:
Implications for sediment transport and bed morphology.
Recent Development in Fluvial Sedimentology 39, 2735,
F.G. Ethridge, R.M. Flores, M.D. Harvey, eds. Spec. Publ.
Soc. Econ. Paleont. Miner, Tulsa.
Best, J.L. (1988). Sediment transport and bed morphology at
river channel conuences. Sedimentology 35(3), 481498.