Time-mean structure of secondary flows in open channel with longitudinal bedforms

Secondary motions are commonly present in open channel flows. This study aims to investigate, both experimentally and analytically, time-mean characteristics of cellular secondary flows generated by longitudinal bedforms. Experiments were conducted in a tilting, rectangular flume with six different longitudinal bedforms, including alternate bed strips with different roughness heights and bed ridges of wavy and rectangular shapes. Various flows were sampled using a two-dimensional laser Doppler anemometer (LDA) and a one-dimensional ultrasonic Doppler velocimeter (UDV). Experimental results demonstrate secondary flows appearing basically in cellular fashion over the modeled longitudinal bedforms. It is also shown that the cellular structures can be described analytically with kinematic considerations. The discrepancies between theoretical and measurement results are discussed. An empirical relationship between maximum vertical velocity and bed configuration is finally proposed based on the experimental data.