Determination of the sediment carrying capacity based on perturbed theory

Abstract

According to the previous studies of sediment carrying capacity, a new method of sediment carrying capacity on perturbed theory was proposed. By taking into account the average water depth, average flow velocity, settling velocity, and other influencing factors and introducing the median grain size as one main influencing factor in deriving the new formula, we established a new sediment carrying capacity formula. The coefficients were determined by the principle of dimensional analysis, multiple linear regression method, and the least square method. After that, the new formula was verified through measuring data of natural rivers and flume tests and comparing the verified results calculated by Cao Formula, Zhang Formula, Li Formula, Engelung-Hansen Formula, Ackers-White Formula, and Yang Formula. According to the compared results, it can be seen that the new method is of high accuracy. It could be a useful reference for the determination of sediment carrying capacity.