Effects of Sediment Load on Hydraulics of Overland flow on Steep Slopes
Guang-hui Zhang,1,2* Rui-chang Shen,2 Rong-ting Luo,2 Ying Cao2 and X. C. Zhang3
1.State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China
2.School of Geography, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China
3.USDA-ARS Grazinglands Research Laboratory, EL Reno, Oklahoma, USA
ABSTRACT: Eroded sediment may have signifi cant effects on the hydraulics of overland flow, but few studies have been performed to quantify these effects on steep slopes. This study investigated the potential effects of sediment load on Reynolds number, Froude number, flow depth, mean velocity, Darcy–Weisbach friction coefficient, shear stress, stream power, and unit stream power of overland flow in a sand-glued hydraulic flume under a wide range of hydraulic conditions and sediment loads. Slope gradients were varied from 8.7 to 34.2%, unit flow rates from 0.66 to 5.26 × 10−3 m2 s−1, and sediment loads from 0 to 6.95 kg m−1 s−1. Both Reynolds number (Re) and Froude number (Fr) decreased as sediment load increased, implying a decrease in flow turbulence. This inverse relationship should be considered in modeling soil erosion processes. Flow depth increased as sediment load increased with a mean value of 1227 mm, caused by an increase in volume of sediment-laden flow (contribution 62.4%) and a decrease in mean flow velocity (contribution 37.6%). The mean flow velocity decreased by up to 0.071 m s−1 as sediment load increased. The Darcy–Weisbach friction coefficient (f) increased with sediment load, showing that the total energy consumption increased with sediment load. The effects of sediment load on f depended on flow discharge: as flow discharge increased, the infl uence of sediment load on f decreased due to increased flow depth and reduced relative roughness. Flow shear stress and stream power increased with sediment load, on average, by 80.5% and 60.2%, respectively; however, unit stream power decreased by an average of 11.1% as sediment load increased. Further studies are needed to extend and apply the insights obtained under these controlled conditions to real-world overland flow conditions.
KEYWORD：soil erosion; hydraulics of overland fl ow; sediment load; steep slopes
Published in EARTH SURFACE PROCESSES AND LANDFORMS, 2010, 35(15), 1811-1819.
