A unified criterion for initiation of sediment motion and inception of sheet flow under water waves

Authors: YOU, ZAI-JIN; YIN, BAOSHU

Source: Sedimentology, Volume 53, Number 5, October 2006 , pp. 1181-1190(10)

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Abstract:

A unified criterion is developed for initiation of non-cohesive sediment motion and inception of sheet flow under water waves over a horizontal bed of sediment based on presently available experimental data. The unified threshold criterion is of the single form, U_o = 2πC[1 + 5(T_R/T)²]^−1/4, where U_o is the onset velocity of sediment motion or sheet flow, T is wave period, and C and T_R are the coefficients. It is found that for a given sediment, U_o initially increases sharply with wave period, then gradually approaches the maximum onset velocity U_o = 2πC and becomes independent of T when T is larger. The unified criterion can also be extended to define sediment initial motion and sheet flow under irregular waves provided the significant wave orbital velocity and period of irregular waves are introduced in this unified criterion.

Keywords: Initial motion; irregular wave; onset velocity; sheet flow; threshold criterion

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3091.2006.00810.x

Affiliations: 1: Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 7 Nanhai Rd, Qingdao 266071, China

Publication date: 2006-10-01