Bed Load Transport under Complex Flow

In this paper, the backward-facing step flow and the sediment transport downstream step were studied experimentally. The critical incipient bed shear velocity is obtained by the results of bed shear velocity and sediment incipient probability. It was found that the critical incipient bed shear velocity depends on the flow structures under the complex flow. By using the new critical incipient bed shear obtained in this paper and calculating the Shields parameter based on instantaneous bed shear velocity, the bed load sediment transport rate downstream step was given. The time history of the bed profile downstream step was calculated by bed load sediment transport rate and compared that obtained by the digital images. Good agreement was observed.