Annual Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, JSCE, Vol.54, 2010, February
Annual Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, JSCE, Vol.54, 2010, February

GEOMETRY EFFECT ON FLOW AND SEDIMENTDEPOSITION PATTERNS IN SHALLOW BASINS
Sameh A. KANTOUSH1, Tetsuya SUMI2 and Anton J. SCHLEISS3
1Member of JSCE, Dr. of Eng., Postdoctoral researcher, Water Resources Research Center, Disaster Prevention
Research Institute, Kyoto University (Goka-sho, Uji-shi, 611-0011, Japan)
2Member of JSCE, Dr. of Eng., Professor, Water Resources Research Center, Disaster Prevention Research Institute,
Kyoto University (Goka-sho, Uji-shi, 611-0011, Japan)
3Professor, Director, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Laboratory of Hydraulic Constructions(LCH) (Station 18, CH -1015 Lausanne, Switzerland)

The design of stilling basin geometry of flood mitigation dams in view of clear water flow may
differ when considering of the water-sediment and deposition effects. To ensure effectiveness of energy
dissipation, appropriate design of stilling basin leading to optimal geometry is required. The present study
investigates the influence of the shallow basin geometry on flow and sediment deposition patterns. The
effect of the geometry was investigated using systematic physical experiments, numerical simulation, andfield data. This allowed to identify the optimal stilling basin shape of the flood mitigation dam thatdissipates more energy, minimizes the deposition and reduces the number of horizontal recirculation cells.
The results help to understand the influence of geometry on the flow stability, sediment deposition andflushing process in order to choose the appropriate stilling basin geometry. The prediction of sedimentprofile depends on the prediction of flow pattern and, in turn, sediment deposits were able to change theflow structure.
Key Words: Influence of geometry, flood retention dam, flow pattern, sedimentation pattern, stilling basin

1. INTRODUCTION
Flow separation and reattachment due to suddenchanges in geometry in internal flow occur in manyengineering applications such as in open channels,
shallow reservoirs, groin fields and stilling basins.
The occurrence of large-scale instabilities andconsequent vortex formation in planar jets invarious geometries has been studied1). In shallow
flow both the limited depth and the bottom friction
influence the development of the mixing layer2). The
limited depth restricts the large structures in the
mixing layer to basically 2D horizontal motions.
A model was developed for obtaining the optimal
dimensions of stilling basin and its appurtenances3).
In symmetrical geometries of stilling basins for a
fixed and horizontal channel bed, and various
expansions and aspect ratios, the hydraulic jumps
have been classified4). The hydraulic jump moves
upstream and its front gradually become normal(R-jump) as the tailwater level is increased4).

Several ratios of the stilling basin width to the inlet
channel width were analyzed, which affect flow
stability, necessary tailwater depth, and length forthe hydraulic jump5). A more detailed analysis ofhydraulic jumps in abruptly expanding channels wasprovided6). Many experimenters have observed thatthe flow in symmetric expansions is asymmetric.
The asymmetric flow in sudden expanding stillingbasins may cause asymmetric scour downstream thebasin.
Numerical and theoretical stability analysis ofshallow flows in a series of rectangular reservoirs
compared with experimental data has been
discussed7). A series of numerical simulations andcompared with scaled laboratory experiments, toinvestigate the sensitivity of flow and sedimentparameters were presented8).

2. OBJECTIVES AND TARGET PROJECT- 133 -

Design of stilling basin of flood mitigation dams

Mixing tankMeasured sediment on December 2006

Sediment supply tank

Mixer
Drainage

(b)

(a)

Pipe

Water supply

Valve

z

Stilling basin

Flow meter

DistributoryMovable frame
UVP

Video camera
PVC wallSlits forflushing

B = 4.0 m
Flap gate

Picture was taken on December 2006

To settling basin

Fig.2 Schematic view of experimental facility installation.

Measured sediment volume is 1,036 m3

Fig.1 Stilling basin of Masudagwa dam (a) schematic picture offlow and deposition; (b) measured sediment profile and volume

such as Masudagawa dam in Shimane Prefecture isgoverned by several parameters such as: number ofbottom outlets, approach Froude number, basingeometry, and tailwater level. Flood mitigation dam
is a gateless outlet dam designed only for the
purpose of flood control which provides long-termand efficient protection against floods and is called
dry dam in USA.
The study focuses on the use of the findings ofthe fundamental research study about influence ofgeometry to define the stilling basin in flood
mitigation dam. Case of study for stilling basin of
Masudagawa dam, newly completed flood
mitigation dam in Japan is shown in Fig. 1. The
stilling basin of Masudagawa dam dissipates theenergy by hydraulic jump type equipped with anendsill and slits for flushing sediment and allowing
fish passage. The flow width from the bottom outlet
shows a narrow flow width comparing with thewidth of the downstream river (Fig.1(a)).
Horizontal recirculation cells are formed at thesides of the inflow jet. These recirculation cells
combined with sediment transport are harmful.
During the first and last stages of a flood when thereservoir water level is reduced, a huge sediment
outflow occurs. While increasing the basins waterlevel, the velocity is increased and large sedimentvolumes are deposited in the basin as shown in
Fig.1(b). Therefore, it is possible to minimize thedamage by stopping the horizontal recirculation
cells in the stilling basin during the high water level
conditions. An asymmetric flow pattern with a low
number of circulation cells is favorable to reduce theexchange processes between flow, bed deposition
and the damage of basin slits. Flow pattern withlarge stagnant zones allows only a portion of flow topass the basin in a time period less than the settling
time. Beside the purpose of controlling the numberof recirculation cells and deposition, the objective isalso to gain deeper insight into the physicalprocesses of sedimentation in shallow basins. The
findings will help designers of stilling basins of new
flood mitigation dams to predict the flow andsediment deposition and to choose an appropriate
geometry. To obtain an optimum design andoperation of bottom outlets and stilling basin, 3D
numerical modeling will be carried out for different
scenarios. The main criterion for the different
simulation is to find out which geometry dissipates
more energy and transports the maximum volume of
sediment over time.

3. METHODOLOGY
The complexities associated with predicting theflow and sedimentation pattern in various basingeometries emphasis the need of combination of thenumerical results with the physical experiments.
This helped to deeply understand the physics andthe process of the sedimentation in the shallowbasins.
Sixteen experiments with clear water andwater-sediment mixture were performed in a facility(Fig.2) at the Laboratory of Hydraulic Constructions(LCH) of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology(EPFL). The experiments have been conducted in arectangular shallow basin shown in Fig. 1(b), with
inner maximum dimensions of 6 m in length and 4
m in width. The inlet and outlet rectangularchannels are both 0.25 m wide and 1 m long. The
influence of different shallow reservoir geometries,
with variable widths and lengths has been achieved
experimentally. To investigate the effect of basin
width on the flow and sedimentation processes, first
the 6 m long basin was performed (Fig. 1(a)).
The width was then reduced successively from 4
to 3 to 2, to 1, and to 0.50 m. In a second step theeffect of basin length was examined by reducing thelength of the rectangular shallow basin from 6 m to
5, to 4, and to 3 m successively.

- 134 -

(a)

(b)

0.135
0.123
0.111
0.099
0.087
0.074
0.062
0.050
0.038
0.026
0.014
0 m/s
0.135
0.123
0.111
0.099
0.087
0.074
0.062
0.050
0.038
0.026
0.014
0 m/s

Fig.3 Time averaged flow pattern and velocity
magnitude (a) clear water; (b) sedimententrainment flow.

Fig.4 Long-term morphological evolution of deposition at 4 runs with
Q =7.0 l/s, h = 0.2 m and sediment concentration C = 3.0 g/l.

To model suspended sediment flow in thelaboratory model, crushed walnut shells with a
median grain size d50=50 μm, and a density of 1500
kg/m3 were used in all tests. Several parameters
were measured during every test, namely: 2D
surface velocities, thickness of the deposited
sediments, as well as concentration.
Two dimensional depth-averaged flow andsediment transport simulations representing theexperimental set-up have been performed with thenumerical model CCHE2D9), developed by NCCHE(National Center for Computational Hydroscienceand Engineering) based on a variant of the finite
element method. The model was used to predictriver flow patterns and related bed and bank erosion
for both uniform and non-uniform sedimenttransport. Both depth-averaged k–ε and eddy
viscosity turbulence closures are available.
CCHE2D was used for its capabilities to simulate
suspended sediment transport.

4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS(1) Flow pattern with and without sediment
The flow features and large–scale structures
were investigated by using LSPIV measurement
technique. Fig. 3(a) shows an overview of thevelocity field and behavior of large-scale coherent
structures in clear water. A plane jet issues from thenarrow leading channel and enters straight ahead in
the first half meter of the wider basin. Then, themain flow tends to develop in a curved way towards
the right hand side over the next two meters until it
touches and follows the right wall. When separatingfrom the right wall, the main flow induces arecirculation zone. A main large stable circulation
cell is generated in the centre of the basin rotating

anticlockwise. Two small triangular cells are formed
rotating clockwise in the upstream corners of thebasin. The two corner cells are dependent from eachother and alternatively change. Both are controllingthe size of the main gyre. The jet preference for theright side is weak, since a stable mirror image of theflow pattern can easily be established by slightly
disturbing the initial conditions.
The stable asymmetric pattern, with a larger andsmaller recirculation zone at the right and left
corners, can be explained by a Coanda effect bywhich any perturbation of the flow field, pushing
the main flow to one side of the basin, gives rise tolarger velocities at the left side along the jet. The
entrainment of mass into the jet creates a mass flux
bigger than the discharge, which contributes to therecirculation. When the distance between the inflow
and outflow section is big enough, the two aredecoupled and the recirculation has room to push
the jet aside, which is helped by the Coanda effect.
Fig.3(b) shows the second flow featuredeveloped with sediment entrainment. The additionof sediment decreases the mixing length orincreasing the eddy size of the right corner gyrewith time. The flow becomes more stable andsymmetric as shown in Fig. 3(b). As a result ofripple formation (see Figs. 4(a), (b)) and suspended
sediment concentrations, the flow field iscompletely changed as shown in Fig. 3(b). The
gyres in the upstream corners disappeared and apattern emerges rather symmetric with respect to thecenter line (see flow pattern schema in Fig. 4). The
two remaining gyres interact with the jet whichshows tendency to meander. The changes in the bed
forms or effective roughness resulting from thesediment deposition can completely modify theoverall flow pattern.

- 135 -

0.18

Y
X

0.14

X =1.5 m

0.12

B =2 m0.10
0.08

18.0hr

0.06

9.0hr

0.02

4.5hr
3.0hr
1.5hr

0.00

‐2.00

‐1.50

‐1.00

‐0.50

0.00

0.50

1.00

1.50

Fig.6 Flow patterns, (left) and evolution of deposition, (right)
for reservoir width (a) B = 3.0 m, (b) B = 2 m, at 4.5 hrs
0.10

2.0

0.09

Water surface

Deposits after 1.5hr (T7)Y

Deposits after 3.0hr (T7)
Deposits after 4.5hr (T7)

Y‐distance in transverse direction [m]Bed thickness deposited [m]0.08

Fig.5 Cross section bed profiles for reference geometry

As a conclusion, a strong interaction between
flow field and bottom topography occurred in thebasins inlet region with a quasi equilibrium state.
There, most of the bed form features disappeared, as
the deposition was increased fairly fast. Numbers ofrecirculation cells that exist in the basin have astrong influence on the flow and sedimentdeposition behavior. By increasing the numbers ofcells, the deposited volume of sediments in the basin
increased. The bed morphology and thecorresponding schematic flow field for the referencegeometry are shown in Fig.4 for four different runs
(1.5, 3, 4.5, 9 hrs) allow a comparison of thelong-term bed evolution in the rectangular basin.
For all runs, two sedimentation behaviors wereobserved. First is the development of the sedimentdeposition developed with ripples formation
concentrated on the right hand side till bed thickness
deposition reaches up to 15% of the water depth asshown in Fig.4 (a). Then the sediment deposition
concentrated along the centerline with relatively
steep gradients near the inlet channel and the firstpart of the jet (Fig.4 (b)). Deposits configurations in
Fig. 3 shows how the mixture of water and sedimentis diffused throughout the basin following thegeneral flow patterns. The footprint of the flow
patterns was clearly visible in the morphology.
However, the increased roughness height associatedwith mobile sediment may contribute to increase in
shear velocity. A symmetric ripples pattern formingin the middle of the basin is clearly visible after 4.5
hrs (Fig. 4(c)). After 9.0 hrs (Fig. 4 (d)), thedeposition on the center gradually increased
generating a wider bed elevation underneath the jet
centerline.
Fig. 5 illustrates the depositions in transversal
direction of the basin at a distance of 1.5 m from theinlet, for the 5 runs. After 1.5 hrs, almost uniform
depositions over the basin with average thickness of
0.015 m are observed. Due to the complete changeof the flow pattern after 3.0 hrs, sediment deposition

T7

B = 3.0 m

0.04

Y

X =3.0 m

T8

B = 2.0 m

Bed thickness deposited [m]0.16

Deposits after 1.5hr
Deposits after 3.0hr
Deposits after 4.5hr
Deposits after 9.0hr
Deposits after 18.0hr

B=3m

0.20

Deposits after 1.5hr (T8)
Deposits after 3.0hr (T8)0.07

Deposts after 4.5hr (T8)

0.06
0.05

X

X

0.04
0.03

4.5hr
3.0hr

0.02
0.01

1.5hr

0.00
-2.00 -1.75 -1.50 -1.25 -1.00 -0.75 -0.50 -0.25 0.00
Left bank

0.25

0.50

0.75

Y-distance in transverse direction [m]

1.00

1.25

1.50

1.75

2.00

Right bankFig.7 Bed thickness evolution of the reduced widths of B = 3.0,
2.0 m at 1.5, 3.0 and 4.5 hrs for cross section at X =3.0 m

rate is slightly increased by 0.005 m. Fig. 5 shows
almost constant sediment deposits within the firsthours for run 2, run 3, and run 4 but the deposits rateis increased for runs 4 and 5. It may be concluded
that a stable morphology has been reached after 18.0
hours and almost morphological equilibrium in thebasin has been reached for. Bed forms are almost
uniform after 1.5 and 3.0 hours but 4.5 hr deposits
show wavy bed forms (Fig.5). The bed thickness
observed after 9.0 hrs is almost three times higher
than for 4.5 hrs. Almost 50% of the basin volume
was filled by the deposits after 18 hrs.
(2) Influence of the basin width
Flow patterns and associated bed depositions
after 4.5 hrs for reduced width basins of 3 and 2 m,
are shown in Fig. 6. The bed morphology for a
reduced width of B = 3.0 m and 2.0 m have auniform deposition rate over entire reservoir surface
and symmetric ripple patterns as shown in Fig. 5.
During the first hour of the tests, the observed flow
pattern was deviated to the right side. But, after twohours the asymmetric jet was flipped from the rightside to the left one as shown in Fig.6. The footprints
of previous stages of the flow patterns are clearlyvisible in Fig. 6(a). As a result of the asymmetry flip
flop from one side to the other, bed forms persisted
throughout the alternately deflected jet. An
asymmetric flow pattern has been observed for all
reduced width basins. Hence, the reservoir width did
not affect the asymmetric separation of the deflectedjet. However, the size of the center and the upstream
corner eddies were in accordance with the width.

- 136 -

Final bed deposition thickness [m]Velocity magnitude [m/s]]00.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2
B x L = 4.0 mx 5.0 m

4

3000

0.020

0.018

0.015
3

0.018
2
0.018

0.
0.0250.025 035

0.020

0.020
0.025
0.0
30

0.025
0.020

5
03
0.

2000

0.020

8
0.01

0.015

1

0.018

0
(a)

2000
4000
6000
0.02 0.04
0.06 0.08
0.1direction
0.12 0.14
0.16 0.18 0.2
X-distancein flow
[mm]

0

1

4000

6000

0.020
4

0.020
5

6

0.020
0.020

0

0.015

0.030

0.025
0.020

0.020
0.025
0.030
0.02
5

0.015

(d)
0

35
0.0

1000

2000

3

0.020
3

2

0

2

(b)

4

2000

(c)
0

1

0.000 0.010 0.015
0.020 0.025 0.030
0.035direction
0.040 0.045[m]0.050 0.055 0.060
X-distancein flow

0.025

3000

0

0.025

4000

0

B x L = 4.0 mx 3.0 m

00.030 0.020

0.020

1000

30
0.0

Y- distance in transversal
direction (mm) [
[ ]

4000

0.010 0.015 0.018 0.020 0.025 0.030 0.035 0.040 0.045 0.050 0.055 0.06

0.020
1

2

3

4

5

6

X- distance in flow direction (mm)Fig.8 Flow pattern with vectors and sediment deposition at 4.5 hrs of the reduced basin lengths L (a, b) 5.0 m, (c, d) 3.0 m.

By reducing the reservoir width, the deceleratingof the deviated jet is reduced. Final deposition
patterns were affected by the reservoir width, withmore symmetric and uniform distributions on theentire surface, and concentrated deposits on bothsides. The evolution of bed at 1.5, 3.0, and 4.5 hrs at
the middle cross section of X = 3.0 m, for the
reduced widths of 3.0 and 2.0 m, are shown in Fig.7.
The depositions are progressively increased in thedownstream direction. The evolution process isincreasingly fast with speed of 0.66 cm/hrs, for bothwidths. In fact, the velocity magnitude is increased
by reducing reservoir width. As a result, a fairly
deep scour hole develops in the bed profile near the
inlet as shown in Fig. 7. Proceeding with time, thisvariation becomes slow due to the counteracting
effect of the jet flow and the formation of asubmerged channel under the centerline.
(3) Influence of the basin length
Influence of sediment transport
The average flow field and the corresponding
bed morphology contours after 4.5 hrs for the
reduced reservoir length are shown in Fig.8. In thefirst ten minutes for a reduced basin length withsediment entrainment, the flow is symmetric with
one circulation cell on each side. The reduction ofhorizontal cells occurs with sediment transport. As
sediment is added to the flow, the turbulence isreduced together with increasing roughness, whichcauses an increase in velocity gradient whencompared to clear-water flow. The turbulence was
generated locally by the horizontal entrainment of a
mixture into the basin with stagnant water. The jetpulse created a region of 3D turbulent flow,
characterized by mixing and entrainment. Then thesize of the turbulence increased rapidly. During thesubsequent stage of sediment settled down, thehorizontal motions are suppressed and the mixed
region becomes flat and the motion becomes quasi
vertical.
Figs. 8(b, d) show a high sediment deposition in
the center under the jet and low deposition near thewalls under the reversed jet. In both the experiments
ripples formed after about 3.0 hrs. By reducing thebasin length the flow is stabilized with a stable
symmetrical pattern. Four cells exist in the basin
length L = 5 m9). The four gyres interact with the jet,which has some tendency to meander. By reducing
the basin length for L = 4, the number of gyres
remains constant and the flow pattern becomes
rather symmetric with respect to the centerline10).
The predominant change in the flow pattern is anevolution from a four cells flow to a distinct two
cells flow. The length of the reservoir plays acritical role in determining the jet flow type and theassociated bed deposition pattern. By reducing thereservoir length as shown in Figs. 8 (a, c) the flow is
stabilized with a stable symmetrical pattern.
Asymmetric and switching flow behavior continues
towards the downstream end, where the jet is forced
to pass through the outlet channel.
(4) Drawdown flushing
The experiments in drawdown flushing werestarted by opening the outlet gate and the water
depth reached to 0.1 m in the basin of the initialwater depth. Fig. 9 shows the flow structure and bed
thickness contours after two days of flushing in the
reduced basin width of 2.0 m. If the water surface
can be draw down significantly the flow starts toerode a wide zone. At that stage, significant
amounts of sediments deposits were flushed through- 137 -

1000

2

1

0.
01
8

0.018
0.020 0.015
0.030

0.0
0.030
28
20
0.0 0 0.022
. 02
0.030
0

22
0.0

0.030

5
03
0. 0.035
0.022
8 0.0
3
0.02
0.0 0
28

p

22

B = 2.0 m

2000

3

[ ]

0.0

3000

0.0000.0050.0100.0150.0200.0250.0300.0350.0400.0450.0500.0550.060

0 0.03 0.06 0.09 0.12 0.15 0.18 0.21 0.24 0.27 0.3
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
0
2000
4000
6000 0
Fig.9 Flow field and contours after two days flushing with lowering basin level to 50% (Q = 7.0 l/s and h = 0.1m)
0the basin, and the initial flushing channel deepened
and widened as a result of the strong jet flow anderosion. The flushing channel is defined as self
forming channel in the deposited material in thebasin and that will be maintained by the flushing jet
flow. Initially all deposited sediment resuspended
with the high velocity jet. The flushing channel
location was clearly visible by the re-suspended
sediment, which was rapidly released during 30
minutes. This followed by a short period of very
rapid widening of the flushing channel forming awide advancing front. Then, after a sudden change
in the rate of the channel widening, the flushingchannel continues to widen at a more gradual rate.
The larger basin volume will induce higher bed
shear stress, and hence produces more effective
removal of sediments on the bed. A significant
amount of sediment deposits was flushed throughthe basin. To effectively apply the flushingprocesses for removing deposits, the location, depth,
and width of the flushing channel can be changed bymodifications of the geometry or installation ofislands or a movable wall near the inlet jet. The
channel attracts the jet and stabilizes the flow
structures over the entire surface.

5. CONCLUSIONS
Although the geometry of a rectangular basin issymmetric, the flow pattern is asymmetric undercertain conditions. The basin geometry influences
the behavior of the large turbulence structures, andthe flow is quite sensitive to the geometry shape.
When suspended sediment is added to the turbulent
flow over a plane bed the following was observed:(a) the large coherent structures disappear compared
to clear water flow with similar flow properties and(b) depositions and flow structure remains
asymmetric with reduced width of the reservoir anddisappears when reducing the length of thereservoir. The findings can be used to define theoptimal shape of the stilling.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT: The authors gratefully
acknowledge the Swiss National Fund for Scientific
Research (SNFRS), which provided funding for the
research carried out during post-doctoral studies at
the Kyoto University.
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(Received September 30, 2009)