EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON INFLUENCE OF VEGETATION FLEXIBILITY ON VORTEX STRUCTURE AND SEDIMENT DEPOSITION

Abstract

 This study investigated some influences of vegetation flexibility on flow structure and suspended load transport process around vegetation through laboratory experiments. For four cases with different vegetation heights, flow velocity distributions were measured by vertical and horizontal plane PIV, and sediment deposition was observed around a vegetation patch. Results of the velocity measurement indicate that for more deflected vegetation case, transverse momentum transport by horizontal vortex is more dominant than wall-normal transport by vertical vortex. This difference in vortex structure seems to determine adjustment process of mean flow and areas of fine sediment deposition.