Over the past two decades the application of acoustics to the measurement of small-scale sediment processes has been gaining increasing acceptance within the sedimentological community. This has arisen because acoustics has the potential to measure non-intrusively, with high temporal and spatial resolution, profiles of suspended sediment size and concentration, profiles of flow, and the bedform morphology. In the present article we review the capability of acoustics to deliver on its potentiality to make a valuable and unique contribution to the measurement of small-scale sediment processes. The article introduces the reasons for using acoustics, the physics underlying the approach, a series of examples illustrating collected data, a discussion on some of the difficulties encountered when applying acoustics and finally a look to the future and possible new developments.

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A review of acoustic measurement of small-scale sediment processes

ASCE Manual 54 , Sedimentation Engineering, prepared under the leadership of Professor Vito A. Vanoni, has provided guidance to theoreticians and practitioners’ world wide on the primary topic of sediment problems involved in the development, use, and conservation of water and land resources. First published in 1975, Manual 54 gives an understanding of the nature and scope of sedimentation problems, of the methods for their investigation, and of practical approaches to their solution. It is essentially a textbook on sedimentation engineering, as its title accurately refl ects. Manual 5 4 was the fi rst and most comprehensive text of its kind and has been circulated throughout the world for the past 30 years as the most complete reference on sedimentation engineering in the world. It has recently been published again as the Classic Edition (Vanoni 2006). In the spirit of its predecessor, this chapter of Manual of Practice 110 , Sedimentation Engineering, aims at presenting the state of the art concerning the hydraulics of sediment transport in fl uvial systems based on the knowledge gained in the last three decades. A concerted effort is made to relate the mechanics of sediment transport in rivers and by turbidity currents to the morphodynamics of lake and reservoir sedimentation, including the formation of fl uvial deltas.

Sediment Transport and Morphodynamics

Secondary currents are a characteristic feature of flow in open-channel bends. Besides the classical helical motion (centre-region cell), a weaker and smaller counter-rotating circulation cell (outer-bank cell) is often observed near the outer bank, which is believed to play an important role in bank erosion processes. The mechanisms underlying the circulation cells, especially the outer-bank cell, are still poorly understood, and their numerical simulation still poses problems, not least due to lack of detailed experimental data. The research reported herein provides detailed experimental data on both circulation cells in an open-channel bend such as found in nature. Furthermore, the underlying dynamics are investigated by simultaneously analysing the vorticity equation and the kinetic energy transfer between the mean flow and the turbulence. This shows that turbulence plays a minor role in the generation of the centre-region cell, which is mainly due to the centrifugal force. By accounting for the feedback between the downstream velocity profile and the centre-region cell, a strongly simplified vorticity balance is shown to yield accurate predictions of the velocities in the centre region. For strong curvatures, however, a fully threedimensional flow description is required. Due to the non-monotonic velocity profiles, the centrifugal force favours the outer-bank cell. Moreover, terms related to the anisotropy of the cross-stream turbulence, induced by boundary proximity, are of the same order of magnitude and mainly enhance the outer-bank cell. Both mechanisms strengthen each other. The occurrence of the outer-bank cell is shown to be not just due to flow instability, like in the case of curved laminar flow, but also to kinetic energy input from turbulence.

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Secondary Flow in Sharp Open-channel Bends

In 1883, Osborne Reynolds reported experiments in real viscous pipe flows and made the seminal distinction between laminar or turbulent flow regimes, each with quite distinct flow characteristics. Early pioneering research on turbulence emanated from the Gottingen group of Ludwig Prandtl, who developed the concept of the boundary layer and proposed a mixing-length turbulence closure, and from the Cambridge group of G. I. Taylor, who provided a theoretical basis for a statistical description of turbulence, with specific results for isotropic turbulence. Important flows, such as those in open channels, boundary layers, and pipes are, however, turbulent shear flows, so the theory of isotropic turbulence cannot be directly applied to such shear flows. The concept of local isotropy, introduced by the Russian group of Kolmogoroff has proved useful in understanding these flows. These theoretical concepts will be briefly reviewed. Experimental research in turbulent boundary-layer and pipe flows has been conducted in air flows since the 1950s using hotwire anemometry. In contrast, most basic research on openchannel turbulence has only been conducted since the 1970s, because of difficulties in applying thermal anemometry to typical water flows in hydraulic laboratories. Since the 1980s, laser anemometry has made experimental studies in open-channel turbulence much less arduous ~though still rather expensive!, permitting detailed investigations of not only basic two-dimensional ~2D! uniform flows, but also, more recently, unsteady and ~3D! channel flows. The following highlights contributions to openchannel turbulence research, particularly those by our group at Kyoto University.

Open-Channel Flow Turbulence and Its Research Prospect in the 21st Century

Flow over a developed bottom topography in a bend has been investigated experimentally. The measuring section is in the outer-bank half of the cross section at 60° into the bend. Spatial distributions of the mean velocities, turbulent stresses, and mean-flow and turbulent kinetic energy are presented. The cross-sectional motion contains two cells of circulation: besides the classical helical motion (center-region cell), a weaker counterrotating cell (outer-bank cell) is observed in the corner formed by the outer bank and the water surface. The downstream velocity in the outer half-section is higher than the one in straight uniform flow; the core of maximum velocities is found close to the separation between both circulation cells, well below the water surface. The turbulence structure in a bend is different from that in a straight flow, most notably in a reduction of the turbulent activity toward the outer bank. Both the outer-bank cell and reduced turbulent activity have a protective effect on the outer ...

Mean Flow and Turbulence in Open-Channel Bend

A monostatic acoustic Doppler velocity profiler (ADVP) for use in hydraulic research is presented including signal treatment algorithms. The 1-MHz ADVP used in the present study has an accuracy better than 2 mms˙s−1 with a range of up to 100 cm for velocities up to 290 cms˙s−1 and a resolution of 256 points in the profile. Results of ADVP measurements in uniform flow in two laboratory open channels with smooth and gravel beds compare favorably with established distribution laws for mean velocity, variance, and Reynold's stress, indicating that the turbulence scales are sufficiently resolved by the instrument. Measurements with the same instrument in a river and a lake illustrate that it is capable of producing excellent results in the field as well. It was demonstrated that, unaffected by water quality, the instrument is a good research tool for nonintrusive and accurate instantaneous profile measurements under turbulent flow conditions.

Thierry Rolland

Papers

Acoustic Velocity Profiler for Laboratory and Field Studies