Flow and Bed Topography in Alluvial Channel Bend

Abstract

TWO recently developed analytical approaches to a description of the fully developed flow and bed topography in alluvial channel bends are extended to include a description of the development of the flow and bed topography in the initial portion of bends. The approaches have been verified by tests in a laboratory‐channel bend. The results of the study show that the bed topography develops and decays over a much shorter distance than does the velocity profile. The eccentricity of the centers of volume flux appears to oscillate along the channel with a period that is comparable to that predicted by a meander theory. The analyses are limited to the central portion of the channel cross section, where bank effects are negligible.