Effect of Reedy Emergent Side-Vegetation in Gravel-Bed Streams on Bed Shear Stress: Patch Scale Analysis

Vegetation in open channels alters turbulent and other hydraulic characteristics of flow. Hence, conventional methods for computing bed shear stress in bare channels are not applicable in such channels. The present study, therefore, experimentally investigates the distributions of velocity in 3D in gravel bed channels with vegetation and investigates six different methods for estimating bed shear stress. The distribution of shear stress is basically controlled by the spatial distribution of vegetation as well as the biomechanical and architectural features of these plants. It is found that near the bottom of the flume, the shear stress changes in dense layers, constituting a layered shape.

Automated summary

This study experimentally investigates the distributions of velocity in 3D in gravel bed channels with vegetation and examines six different methods for estimating bed shear stress. The distribution of shear stress is mainly controlled by the spatial distribution of vegetation and the biomechanical and architectural features of these plants, leading to a layered shape of shear stress near the bottom of the flume.