Case Study: Turbulent Flow and Sediment Distributions in a Groyne Field

Abstract

This study presents measurements and analysis of three-dimensional turbulent flow structure and characteristics of suspended particulate matter distribution. Measurements of velocity vectors provided accurate mapping of the flow pattern inside the groyne field. Although the velocity distributions reveal the validity of the power law for depth range 0.1<z/h<0.5, the reduction of velocity magnitude to zero value was observed near the flow free surface. The turbulent kinetic energy distributions follow the slope of the semitheoretical description at 0.1<z/h<0.5 and increase at the upper flow layers. The composition of the suspended material changes substantially throughout the groyne field area due to the replacement of nonorganic compounds by organic compounds. The effect of ship-induced currents is shown to be responsible for the rise of suspended sediment concentration up to 17% in comparison with undisturbed conditions and changes in the composition of the suspended material.