An analytical model for lateral depth-averaged velocity distributions along a meander in curved compound channels

This paper presents an analytical method for modeling the lateral depth-averaged velocity distribution along a half-meander in a curved compound channel. An equation is derived from the momentum equation and the flow continuity equation which contains a velocity term with both streamwise velocity variation and lateral secondary flow variation. A velocity variation parameter is proposed in the main channel and on the floodplain for a series of test sections. To study the validity of these equations experiments were conducted in a large scale meandering compound channel at Sichuan University, China. Based on the experimental data, the generation mechanism of secondary flow in the main channel along half a meander is analyzed. It is shown that the secondary current is enhanced by the centrifugal force and the floodplain flow. Due to the discontinuity of the flow depth and the effect of meandering in the main channel flow, a region divided method is adopted. A new boundary condition is proposed by introducing the angle between the main channel flow and the floodplain flow, and it is shown that this gives better modeling results in cross-over sections. The modeling results indicate that the proposed method, which uses the new boundary condition and includes both the streamwise velocity variation and the lateral secondary flow variation, can model the lateral depth-averaged velocity distributions more accurately. Finally, variations in the velocity term between the main channel and floodplain are discussed and analyzed.