Cohesive Sediment Transport Model

Abstract

A mathematical model has been developed which simulates the transport of cohesive sediment. The model solves the complete, three‐dimensional version of the diffusion‐advection equation using a splitting method in conjunction with a characteristics technique and a mixed explicit‐implicit finite difference approach. The effects of the flocculation, deposition, consolidation, erosion and slump of the sediment are incorporated in the model, which can also handle irregular layouts. Application of the model to a harbor siltation problem indicated that the large input data requirements can be satisfied economically and that the scheme yields realistic results. The application also provided an insight into possible ways of operating the model for different field situations.