A Review of Methods for Assessing Incipient Motion of Sediments and the Factors Affecting it

Document Type : review paper

Authors

• shahram esmailzadeh
• kazem esmaili

ferdowsi

10.22067/jwsd.v4i1.55296

Abstract

In erodible channels, a series of hydrodynamic forces are applied on the sediments in the waterways. With the increasing flow rate, the hydrodynamic forces also increase gradually. If hydrodynamic forces go beyond the critical value, the sediment particles begin to move. The onset of the sediment movement is commonly called "Incipient Motion", and the circumstances in which the particles move is referred to as the "Threshold or Critical Condition". The Shields Diagram seems to be the starting point for all research done in the field of sediment transport. Although some efforts were made before the Shields approach, they were mostly based on empirical formulae and did not have much use in practical applications. Many studies were conducted by Shields and the resulting diagram provided by Shields was used widely in practical issues. In spite of the widespread application of Shields Diagram, some studies indicate limitations on its use. One of the problems in the Shields Diagram is that shear stress and shear velocity are considered as independent variables, while these two variables are dependent. Moreover, it does not explicitly specified which method is used to determine the critical shear stress. The effect of the bed slope on the incipient motion is still not clear and researchers have achieved quite different results in this regard.

Keywords

• Shields Diagram
• Incipient motion
• Sediment
• Erosion

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