Home | Careers | Contact Us
Sedflume: A device for the measurement of parameters affecting sediment transport.
In the accurate prediction and modeling of sediment transport, one of the most significant processes to understand and quantify is the sediment erosion rate. These rates can change by orders of magnitude, not only as a function of the applied shear stress due to waves and currents but also as a function of horizontal location and depth in the sediment. Because of this, these rates have a major and highly variable effect on transport.
In order to quantify these rates and understand the processes on which they depend, Sedflume has been used to measure erosion rates in the field and in the laboratory. In order to apply this information, a numerical model of sediment transport has also been developed which incorporates the use of Sedflume data. In addition, the model includes multiple size classes, a unified treatment of suspended load and bedload, and bed armoring. Applications of this model to sediment erosion, transport, and bed armoring in river systems have shown excellent agreement between calculations and observations.
By means of this model and accurate measurements of erosion rates by means of Sedflume, realistic predictions of sediment and subsequent sediment bound contaminant transport can now be made with a minimal amount of calibration or fine-tuning of the model. Sedflume has been used extensively in the field and laboratory for the past 7 years to quantify sediment erosion rates as a function of depth into the sediments, shear stress, bulk density, and sediment composition in both the field and laboratory.
Learn more