Principles of bedload transport of non-cohesive sediment in open-channels

Abstract

This text addresses the particular case of motion and causes of motion of granular material as bedload in the fluvial domain. The aim is to perform and overview of key concepts, main achievements and recent advances on the description of the processes involved in erosion, deposition and transport of sediment in open-channels. The theoretical functional relations describing both the initiation of motion and the sediment transport are introduced. The classical problem of the initiation of motion of particles is treated at grain and at reach scales, accounting for the stochastic nature of flow. Concepts of granular kinematics and methods for quantifying the sediment transport rate in rivers are presented. The latter results from the interactions between the flow and the particles on the bed surface. The sediment transport rate, which has been shown to have a stochastic behaviour, is converted to a lumped statistic distribution. Finally, some field and laboratory techniques for measuring sediment transport, accounting for its inherent fluctuations, are introduced.