Coordination in Mobile-Bed Hydraulics

A prototype case is stated for bed-load transport in a flume, and reduced to two independent seven-dimensional functional relations among "numerics"; the procedure is analogous to, but more complex than, that which produced the friction-factor diagram plot for Newtonian flow in uniform circular pipes. It is used to analyze the apparently different views and formulations associated with the self-adjustment of natural channels and the transport of bed load in flumes. Different formulations are necessary to represent different flow, with transport phases advertised by different bed forms. Unsatisfactory features of world data become apparent. Coordination of legitimately divergent formulas is seen to be necessary for an overall picture of the phenomena. Recommendations are made for improved cooperative international research covering the practically important range of independent variables.