River‐Bed Profiles with Imposed Sediment Load

Abstract

The rate and extent of bed aggradation resulting from sediment overloading are determined by means of computer‐based numerical experiments. A nondimensional momentum equation, along with continuity equations for water and sediment of unsteady flow for a wide, prismatic channel, are solved numerically using recently developed relations for sediment discharge and friction factor. Numerical experiments are executed for a range of values of nondimensional input data. Principal dependent variables, such as changes in bed levels from equilibrium levels and the length of aggradation, determined from the computer experiments are correlated by multiple linear regression analysis to the independent nondimensional variables. Numerical results show that the sediment diffusion coefficient is a function of the rate of sediment overloading. The agreement between the numerical results and the available experimental data is satisfactory.