A Summary of Sediment Transportation Mechanics

Abstract

The development of the mechanics of transportation of sediment by fluids has been carried on mainly in connection with the control and development of streams where its greatest economic importance lies. The difficulties of controlling rivers are concerned largely with such matters as the ability of the flow to erode the banks and bed or the possibility of aggradation due to insufficient transporting capacity. Thus, stream control problems are to a great extent problems in sediment transportation. Although sediment transportation is closely identified with streams, its application is by no means limited to this field. It is of importance in many industrial processes where solids are transported by liquids or gases or where solids need to be mixed and/or separated from fluids, and in the important field of transportation of soil by wind. In this paper a brief outline will be given of the mechanics underlying this subject. No attempt will be made to discuss the many important practical problems which provided the incentive for developing this special branch of fluid mechanics.