Journal article
Flow Hydrodynamics, Sediment Erosion Potential and Drag Forces In An Open Channel With an Array of Vegetation Patches at Its Banks
Advances in water resources, Vol.217(November 2026), 105481
09/04/2026
DOI: 10.1016/j.advwatres.2026.105481
Abstract
•DES is used to investigate the effects of alternate semi-circular vegetation patches at the channel sidewalls on the sediment erosion potential.•The effects of patch size and solid volume fraction on the corridor of high velocities are investigated.•Analogies and differences with the case of groyne fields positioned at the channel walls are discussed.•The study is relevant for restoration projects that introduce patches of vegetation in rivers.
Detached eddy simulations are conducted using a viscous flow solver to understand flow hydrodynamics and turbulence structure in a horizontal bed, straight open channel of width W containing an array of equally spaced, semi-circular porous patches at its two banks placed in staggered way. In the numerical experiments, the streamwise distance between successive patches on opposite banks, L, is equal to the diameter of the patch, Dp. The patches containing uniformly distributed emerged, solid cylinders mimic vegetation canopies in river channels that can be used in river restoration projects to induce meandering of straight, degraded channels or to stabilize alternate bars. The paper investigates how the relative patch size, Dp/W, and the solid volume fraction of the patches, SVF, affect the patch shear layers and, for sufficiently high SVF, the continuous mixing layers forming on both sides of the meandering corridor of high velocities generated inside the central part of the channel, the sediment entrainment capacity of the flow beneath the corridor of high velocities, the flow discharges through the patches, and the additional channel drag due to the cylinders/plant stems. Results show that the second patch in the array is subject to the largest streamwise drag force and this force can be up to 3 to 4 times larger than the force acting on the higher-rank patches. The paper also discusses analogies and differences between the mixing layers generated by the two arrays of porous patches and mixing layers generated at the interface between a groyne field and the open water region of a channel.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Flow Hydrodynamics, Sediment Erosion Potential and Drag Forces In An Open Channel With an Array of Vegetation Patches at Its Banks
- Creators
- A. Yuksel-Ozan - Adnan Menderes UniversityK. Chang - Ulsan CollegeG. Gunes - University of IowaG. Constantinescu - University of Iowa
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Advances in water resources, Vol.217(November 2026), 105481
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.advwatres.2026.105481
- ISSN
- 0309-1708
- eISSN
- 1872-9657
- Publisher
- Elsevier Ltd
- Grant note
- EAR Division of Earth Sciences, Hydrologic Sciences Program of the US National Science Foundation under GRANT: 2407177
The numerical calculations reported in this paper were performed at TUBITAK ULAKBIM, High Performance and Grid Computing Center (TRUBA resources) and on the Argon cluster at the University of Iowa. This work was partially supported by the EAR Division of Earth Sciences, Hydrologic Sciences Program of the US National Science Foundation under GRANT No. 2407177. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. National Science Foundation.
- Language
- English
- Electronic publication date
- 08/28/2026
- Date published
- 09/04/2026
- Academic Unit
- Civil and Environmental Engineering
- Record Identifier
- 9985222681202771
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