A simple formula for predicting settling velocity of sediment particles.pdfVIP

Water Science and Engineering, Mar. 2008, Vol. 1, No. 1, 37– 43. DOI: 10.3882/j. issn. 1674-2370.2008.01.005 ISSN 1674–2370, —————————————— This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.. *Corresponding author (e-mail: zysong@hhu.edu.cn) Received Jan. 11, 2008; accepted Mar. 2, 2008 A simple formula for predicting settling velocity of sediment particles Song Zhiyao*1, 2, 3, Wu Tingting1, 2, Xu Fumin2, 3, Li Ruijie2, 3 1. State Key Laboratory of Hydrology-Water Resources and Hydraulic Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, P. R. China 2. College of Ocean, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, P. R. China 3. Key Laboratory of Coastal Disaster and Defence, Ministry of Education, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, P. R. China Abstract: Based on the general relationship described by Cheng between the drag coefficient and the Reynolds number of a particle, a new relationship between the Reynolds number and a dimensionless particle parameter is proposed. Using a trial-and-error procedure to minimize errors, the coefficients were determined and a formula was developed for predicting the settling velocity of natural sediment particles. This formula has higher prediction accuracy than other published formulas and it is applicable to all Reynolds numbers less than 2×105. Key words: settling velocity; spherical particle; sediment particle; sediment transport; trial-and-error method 1 Introduction The settling velocity of sediment particles, also called the terminal or fall velocity, is one of the key variables in the study of sediment transport and is important in understanding suspension, deposition, mixing and exchange processes. Nevertheless, it is still difficult to accurately predict the settling velocity, even for a single spherical particle. For its engineering application, the settling velocity for single particles, , has been extensively studied. The drag coefficient, C sW d, is inverse