Study of the wave period effect on the time-averaged suspended sediment concentration distribution under the oscillatory sheet flow condition

ABSTRACT Existing sheet flow experimental data show the measured time-averaged suspended sediment concentration (TSSC) may increase, decrease, or even remain constant if the wave period decreases. With respect to the available sheet flow experimental data, it is confirmed that the TSSC of relatively fine sand undergoes three stages, i.e. first decreases, then increases, and finally decreases again in the case that the wave period decreases from 12 s to 2 s, whereas for the relatively coarse sand, its vertical profile remains almost unchanged. The criterion for identifying the relatively fine or coarse sand was proposed in terms of the nondimensional ratio between the settling velocity and the root-mean-square flow velocity. If this ratio is less than 0.04–0.043, it is deemed as relatively fine sand. Otherwise, it is classified as relatively coarse sand. Applying the classical gradient diffusion model, sediment diffusivity is confirmed to be insensitive to the wave period. Keeping other experimental conditions uniform, TSSCs with different wave periods are proportional to each other and only affected by the reference concentration. Subsequently, a simple quantitative expression considering the wave period effect on the TSSC under the oscillatory sheet flow regime was proposed and verified with the experimental data.