Chapter 6
Sediment Transport
Models
“Owing to the variety and magnitude of scale effects, which can
only be fully understood by an experimenter with experience,
modelling coastal areas will continue to appear an art.” ...J.
William Kamphuis (1975) in reference to movable-bed physical
models.
6.1 Introduction to Movable-Bed Models
Previous chapters have focused on coastal physical models in which the
bottom is fixed to represent either scaled bathymetry of an actual project
site or generalized bathymetry used for parametric studies. The bottom
cannot evolve in these fixed-bed models in response to changing hydrodynamic forcing, and this is a serious flaw in situations where we might expect
significant changes in the seafloor arising from waves and currents. Modified bathymetry may, in turn, alter incoming wave characteristics, and the
bed will continue to evolve until a quasi-equilibrium is reached.
The physical modeling alternative for studying coastal sediment transport problems is the Movable-Bed Model, where all or part of the model
bed is composed of granular material that can be transported by hydrodynamic forces imposed by waves and currents. In this chapter, discussion of movable-bed physical modeling will be limited to situations with
coastal-type flow regimes acting to transport and deposit noncohesive
sediments.
Sediment Transport
Models
“Owing to the variety and magnitude of scale effects, which can
only be fully understood by an experimenter with experience,
modelling coastal areas will continue to appear an art.” ...J.
William Kamphuis (1975) in reference to movable-bed physical
models.
6.1 Introduction to Movable-Bed Models
Previous chapters have focused on coastal physical models in which the
bottom is fixed to represent either scaled bathymetry of an actual project
site or generalized bathymetry used for parametric studies. The bottom
cannot evolve in these fixed-bed models in response to changing hydrodynamic forcing, and this is a serious flaw in situations where we might expect
significant changes in the seafloor arising from waves and currents. Modified bathymetry may, in turn, alter incoming wave characteristics, and the
bed will continue to evolve until a quasi-equilibrium is reached.
The physical modeling alternative for studying coastal sediment transport problems is the Movable-Bed Model, where all or part of the model
bed is composed of granular material that can be transported by hydrodynamic forces imposed by waves and currents. In this chapter, discussion of movable-bed physical modeling will be limited to situations with
coastal-type flow regimes acting to transport and deposit noncohesive
sediments.