Suspended Sediment‐Transport Capacity for Open Channel Flow

Abstract

A fairly simple correlation is formulated for calculating the suspended sediment‐transport capacity of open channel flow. The correlation is based on the assumption that the work performed by buoyancy force on the sediment particles is proportional to the production of turbulent kinetic energy. The proportionality constant is determined by calibration using a wide range of experimental data. The new formula does involve bed‐load correlations, and, hence, avoids the considerable uncertainty generic to those correlations. By assuming a suitable concentration profile, the formula can be used for calculating the maximum, full‐capacity concentration at a reference level, but the formula itself does not involve a priori profile assumptions. An approximate relation is provided between the depth‐averaged concentration and the transport concentration itself. This makes it possible to calculate easily the reference bed concentration using a graphical chart provided for the cases where the Rouse profile for concentration is a good approximation.