Nonlinear variation of bedload thickness with fluid flow rate in laminar shearing flow

TL;DR

This study investigates how the thickness of sediment layers in laminar flow varies nonlinearly with fluid flow rate, using numerical simulations and theoretical modeling, revealing non-Newtonian sediment behavior.

Contribution

It introduces a coupled lattice Boltzmann and discrete element method to analyze sediment movement and validates a nonlinear relationship between bedload thickness and flow rate.

Findings

Nonlinear relationship observed between sediment layer thickness and flow rate.

Effective viscosity and friction coefficient are key parameters for modeling.

Theoretical predictions align with simulation results.

Abstract

The movement of subaqueous sediment in laminar shearing flow is numerically investigated by the coupled lattice Boltzmann and discrete element methods. First, the numerical method is validated by comparing the phase diagram proposed by Ouriemi et al. ({\it J. Fluid Mech}., vol. 636, 2009, pp. 321-336). Second, a detailed study on sediment movement is performed for sediment with varying solid volume fractions, and a nonlinear relationship between the normalised thickness of the mobile layer and the normalised fluid flow rate is observed for a densely-packed sediment. Third, an independent investigation on the effective viscosity and friction coefficient of the sediment under different fluid flow rates is conducted in a shear cell; and substitution of these two critical parameters into a theoretical expression proposed by Aussillous et al. ({\it J. Fluid Mech}., vol. 736, 2013, pp. 594-615) provides consistent predictions of bedload thickness with the simulation results of sediment movement. Therefore, we conclude that the non-Newtonian behaviour of densely-packed sediment leads to the nonlinear relationship between the normalised thickness of the mobile layer and the normalised fluid flow rate.