Bed morphology and turbulent anisotropy in a curved flexible bed channel

Abstract

The present study analyzed the curved channel with the flexible bed for its morphology and structural turbulent anisotropy. The result of the bed morphology shows that erosion on the outer bend of the channel was prominent, and sediment deposition was pronounced in the inner bed of the channel. Erosion and sediment deposition rates increase with the flow rate and time. The analysis presents an anisotropy invariant (Lumley triangle) for flow turbulence at different channel sections. At the apex of the curved channel, a pancaked structure with a higher magnitude confirms the presence of helical flow in the apex region. The presence of a cigar-shaped structure with a high magnitude on the right side of the bend compared to the left side may be attributed to higher turbulence on the right side (outer bend), which may result in erosion at the outer bend and lesser turbulence on the left side (inner bank) may result in sediment deposition.