Numerical simulation of hydrodynamic characteristics and bedload transport in cross sections of two gravel-bed rivers based on one-dimensional lateral distribution method

Accurate evaluation and prediction of bedload transport are crucial in studies of fluvial hydrodynamic characteristics and river morphology. This paper presents a one-dimensional numerical model based on the one-dimensional lateral distribution method (1D-LDM) and six classic bedload transport formulae that can be used to simulate hydrodynamic characteristics and bedload transport discharge in cross sections. Two gravel-bed rivers, i.e. the Danube River located approximately 70 km downstream from Bratislava in Slovakia and the Tolten River in south of Chile are used as examples. In the 1D-LDM, gravity, bed shear stress, turbulent diffusion, and secondary flow are included to allow for accurate predictions of flow velocity and consequently bed shear stress in the cross sections. Six classic formulae were applied to evaluate the non-dimensional bedload transport rate, and the bedload transport discharge through a river cross section is obtained by integrating the bedload transport rate over the width of the cross section. The results show that the root mean square error (RMSE) and mean absolute error (MAE) of velocity and water discharge were less than 8% of the observed magnitude, while the correlation coefficient between model predictions and observations was close to unity. The formulae proposed by Ashida and Michiue (1972), in which particle collision with the bed is taken into account, and by Camenen and Larson (2005), which allows for yielding a non-zero bedload transport rate even when the bed shear stress is smaller than the critical bed shear stress value, appeared to be more appropriate for predicting the observed bedload transport rate in the studied cross sections of two gravel-bed rivers. If non-uniform sediment mixtures were considered, the bedload transport discharge through a cross-section could change considerably by up to 22.5% of the observed magnitude. The relations proposed by Ashida and Michiue (1972) and Egiazaroff (1965) for parameterizing the hiding factor yielded more realistic model predictions in comparison with observations for the measured data set collected for the Tolten River, while the one proposed by Wilcock and Crowe (2003) performs the best for the data set measured for the Danube River. (C) 2019 International Research and Training Centre on Erosion and Sedimentation/the World Association for Sedimentation and Erosion Research. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.