Flow over Flexible Vegetated Bed: Evaluation of Analytical Models

The development of vegetation in the river bed and in the banks can affect the hydrodynamic conditions and the flow behavior of a watercourse. This can increase the risk of flooding and sediment transport. Therefore, it is important to develop analytical approaches to predict the resistance caused by vegetation and model its effect on the flow. This is the objective of this work which investigates the ability of different analytical models to predict the vertical velocity profile as well as the resistance induced by flexible submerged vegetation in open channels. Then it is possible to select the appropriate model that will be applied in the real case of rivers. The model validation is determined after a comparison between the data measured in the different experiments carried out and those from literature. For dense vegetation, the role of the Reynolds number is emphasized in particular with a model using the Darcy-Brinkman equation in the canopy. With a simple permeability, this model is relevant to estimate friction. However, for larger Reynolds number, models based on the fully turbulent flow assumption provide better results.