Turbulent flow statistics of vegetative channel with seepage

The present study is carried out for studying the impact of submerged, flexible vegetation in a channel where downward seepage occurs. Laboratory experiments on artificial vegetation of two different heights, 8 cm and 6 cm, were conducted for no-seepage, 10% seepage and 15% seepage cases. Vegetation height is an important parameter in influencing the flow characteristics in a vegetated channel, where velocity is reduced near the top of the vegetation. Results show that velocity measured at upstream vegetation section is always higher than the downstream section even with the application of downward seepage. The maximum value of Reynolds stress occurs near the top of the vegetation. When the flow enters the vegetation section, the local effect of the presence of vegetation on sediment transport is more at the upstream vegetation section and then decreases which is shown by higher Reynolds stress at the upstream as compared to downstream vegetation section highlighting the importance of vegetation in providing as an erosion control. The maximum Reynolds stress at no seepage is increased by a percentage of 17% for 10% seepage and average of 30.5% for 15% seepage. The turbulence intensities at no seepage are increased by an average value of 15% for 10% seepage and 25% for 15% seepage. The reduction of Reynolds stress and turbulent intensities along the longitudinal direction implies the importance of using vegetation as a river restoration measure providing considerable stability to channels. Third order moments highlight that downward seepage increases the streamwise flux and decreases the upward flux. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.