Effects of Rigid Unsubmerged Vegetation on Flow Field Structure and Turbulent Kinetic Energy of Gradually Varied Flow

The influence of rigid unsubmerged vegetation on flow structure and turbulent kinetic energy of gradually varied flow are experimentally investigated in this research. Natural reed stems of different densities are employed to examine the effects of the rigid unsubmerged vegetation on the flow in rivers. The results reveal that the vegetation existence significantly changes the gradually varied flow state from type M1 to type M2 in the vegetation section. The traditional power law describing the vertical flow velocity profile is evidently invalid when the vegetation density becomes high. With the irregularity index proposed in the research, the irregularity of vertical flow velocity profile in vegetated reach can be exponentially described in relation to the vegetation density. Furthermore, the turbulent kinetic energy is found to increase and reach a maximum value near the end of the vegetation section that is a potential localized erosion area. The results of the research have significances in river ecological restoration applications utilizing aquatic vegetation. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.