Fluctuations of the solid discharge of gravity-driven particle flows in a turbulent stream

Substantial variations in the particle flux are commonly observed in field measurements on gravel-bed rivers and in laboratory experiments mimicking river behavior on a smaller scale. These fluctuations can be explained by the natural variability of sediment supply and hydraulic conditions. We conducted laboratory experiments of particle transport down a two-dimensional inclined channel, for which the boundary conditions were properly controlled. Most flow variables and the features of particle trajectories were measured using a high-speed camera. The particles were 6-mm glass beads entrained by a rapid, turbulent, supercritical water flow. Even under these well-controlled experimental conditions and despite steady supply, solid discharge exhibited significant variations with time. The objective of this paper was to pinpoint the origins of these fluctuations by investigating different flow conditions. Two experiments were done with a fixed (smooth or corrugated) channel bottom and two others were run with a mobile bed (involving layers of closely packed particles lying along the channel base, which could be entrained by the stream); in the latter case, two particle arrangements were tested. It was found that, to a large extent, fluctuations reflected the finite size of the observation window. For fixed beds, the characteristic time scale of fluctuations and their probability distribution can be predetermined by evaluating the mean and fluctuating velocities of a single particle. Solid-discharge fluctuations were exacerbated when the bed was mobile because (i) the moving solid phase and the stationary bed exchanged particles and (ii) collective entrainment of particles occurred.