Hydraulics of submerged jet subject to change in cohesive bed geometry

Abstract

The results of an experimental investigation of the time variation of scour hole and the flow characteristics of the quasi-equilibrium state of scour of a cohesive bed downstream of an apron due to a submerged horizontal jet issuing from a sluice opening are presented. Experiments were carried out with natural cohesive sediment for various sluice openings, jet velocities, and lengths of apron. Attempts are made to explain the similarity existing either in the process of scour or in the scour profiles that the scour holes follow downstream of an apron. The scour profiles at different times follow a particular geometrical similarity and can be expressed by a polynomial using relevant parameters. The characteristic parameters affecting the time variation of scour depth are identified based on the physical reasoning and dimensional analysis. An equation for time variation of maximum scour depth is obtained empirically. The diffusion characteristics of the submerged jet, growth of boundary layer thickness, velocity distribution within the boundary layer, and shear stress at the quasi-equilibrium state of scour are also investigated. The expression of shear stress is obtained from the solution of the von Karman momentum integral equation.