Reservoir construction alters the hydrodynamic characteristics of the flow and sediment regimes, resulting in the enhancement of the hysteresis effect between the flood and sediment peaks. In this study, a 3D numerical model was adopted to investigate the propagation characteristics of sediment peak and the management method of reservoir sediment release. The results indicate that the incoming flow rate and the storage water level have a great influence on the propagation time of the sediment peak, and the incoming flow rate has a large influence on the attenuation rate of the sediment peak while the storage water level and the incoming suspended sediment concentration have a little effect on the attenuation rate of the sediment peak. An empirical formula based on inflow rate, water level elevation, water depth and length and storage capacity of reservoirs was established to predict the lag time between the flood and sediment peaks. The asynchronous movement between the incoming flood and sediment peaks has a clear influence on the propagation characteristics of the sediment peak. The hysteresis effect of the flood and sediment peaks can be fully utilized by reservoir managers to reduce reservoir sedimentation and improve sedimentation distribution.
The processes of sediment particle movement were studied through numerical simulation using a coupled method with focus on discussing the characteristics of sliding or rolling and saltation sediment particles, respectively. Turbulent flow was simulated using large eddy simulation (LES). The sediment particle was simulated using the combined finite-discrete element method (FDEM). The interaction forces of turbulent flow and sediment particle were calculated using the immersed boundary method (IBM). It indicated that the collisions of saltating particle with low concentration increase the saltation length and flight time. In response, sediment particle velocity also increases. The particle angular velocity is largest at the takeoff moment, and decreases gradually in the saltation progress. The drag and lift forces near the bed are large, and away from the bed decrease and trend to be a stable value, gradually. From the relative magnitudes of the drag and lift forces, the lift force plays a more important role than the drag force in the sediment saltation. The relative magnitudes of drag and lift forces influence the incident and takeoff angles. The sediment transport rate calculated based on the characteristics of saltation sediment particles is overestimated, ignoring the effect of sliding or rolling sediment particles and inter-particle collisions.
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