The most advanced research is related to suspended sediment transport in rivers. This kind of transport involves turbulence that plays a major role in the erosion, transport, and deposition processes of sediments. In particular, previous research showed that these processes are strongly related to turbulence characteristics in the wall region, where turbulence essentially takes the form of quasi- periodic coherent structures (the so called bursting phenomenon). The objective of my research is to investigate the turbulence-sediment interaction from a quantitative point of view using new experimental techniques. The exploratory study using the Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) technique showed that this technique could be used to accomplish our objective; it has the capability to provide simultaneous measurements of flow and particle characteristics (Bigillon F. and Garcia M.H., 2002).

Media

Image of PIV results

Image of PIV results

Also see the poster presented at the Hydraulic Measurments and Experimental Methods Conference, Estes Park, Colorado, July 28 – August 1 2002, available in PDF (1.6 MB).

Publications

 

Bigillon F. and Garcia M. H. (2002) “Exploratory study of Flow-Particle interaction using Particle Image Velocimetry”. Hydraulic Measurements and Experimental Methods, Estes Park, Colorado, July 28 – August 1 2002, 10 p.