Experimental study on incipient motion of sediment particles on generalized sloping fluvial beds

Abstract

This paper presents an experimental investigation on incipient motion of non-cohesive uniform sediment under a steady-uniform stream flow on generalized sloping fluvial beds (combined lateral and stream-wise slope). The characteristic parameters affecting the incipient motion of sediment particles, identified based on the physical reasoning and dimensional analysis, are the threshold shear stress ratio (ratio of threshold shear stress for sloping bed to that for horizontal bed), lateral slope,stream-wise slope and angle of repose of sediment particles. Experiments were carried out in two ducts (closed-conduit flow) having section of semicircular invert with three types of sediments. In an open channel flow (laboratory flume study), the uniform flow is a difficult, if not impossible,proposition for a steeply sloping channel and is impossible to obtain in an adversely sloping channel.To avoid this problem, the tests were conducted with a closed-conduit flow. Equation of critical bed shear stress for the initial movement of sediment particles on generalized sloping beds was obtained using the experimental data.