Sediment Transport Investigation in the Yangtze Estuary with Radioactive Tracer

- This paper describes a radioactive tracer experiment carried out at the landward spoil site of the North Passage in the Yangtze Estuary in June, 1991. Scandium -46 was selected as the tracer, the total activity released was 179.45 GBq and the amount of the Sandium-46 glass was 495 g. The purpose of the experiment was to determine the sediment movement direction, path, velocity and transport rate, and therefore, to provide direct evidence for using the landward spoil site in the future. The experimental results showed that the sediment movement was governed by the ebb tide current during the period of mean and neap tides when the radioactive tracer was injected both on the flood and ebb tides, and the sediment moved from the release point to the middle of the North Passage near navigation buoy No. 269. The direciton of the sediment movement was 110 ° , the particle velocity was 758 m/d, and the sediment transport rate per unit width was 47.8 m3 / md.     

A Study on Some Causes of Rubble Mound Breakwater Failure

- Rubble mound breakwater, one of the protection structures, has been widely used in coastal and port engineering. Block stones were first used as its armor layer, and its use was limited to shallow sea areas where there is no large waves. Since the specially-shaped armor unit was developed, the rubble mound breakwater has become the main sort of the protection structures, which can be used in deep water zones where storm sometimes occurs. Owing to severe and complex surrounding conditions, the rubble mound breakwater failure sometimes occurs, thus the study on the causes of failure is of great importance. In the present study some breakwater failures at home and abroad are illustrated and the causes of failure are investigated from the point of view of design, test, construction and maintenance.     

Experimental Study on Local Scour Around A Large Circular Cylinder Under Irregular Waves

1 .IntroductionWiththedevelopmentofexploitationofmarineresources ,theconstructionofoffshorestructuresdevelopsrapidly ,suchasmarineoilplatforms ,deep waterbreakwaters ,marinebridges ,largehar bors,etc .Thesestructureswillchangesurroundingwaveandcurrentconditionsandleadtolocalscourofseabed ,resultinginstructuraldamage .Therefore ,localscouraroundmarinestructuresaswellastheirprotectionhasdrawnmuchattentionfromrelativeengineeringfields .Manyscholarshaveconduct edtheoreticalanalysisandexperimentals…     

Toe Structure Stability of Sloping Breakwater

1 .IntroductionTheslopingbreakwateriswidelyusedintheprotectionofcoastalstructures ,withrubblemoundtoebermbuiltatthefootofthewave attackingslope .Thefunctionofarubblemoundtoestructureis ,inadditiontodecreasingthequantityofmainarmorstoneused ,toprovidestaticsupporttothemainarmorlayer,avoidingtherollingdownofmainarmorstonesandprotectingtheapronstonesfromero sion .TheweightoftoebermstonesisdecidedaccordingtotheCodeofBreakwaterDesignandBuildingformulatedbytheMinistryofCommunicationsofChina .When…     

Quality Assessment of Concrete Blocks Exposed in Nature for Eighty Years

The concrete blocks used on a jetty in Shanghai were made in 1909 and 1910. Having been exposed in nature for 80 years, now there are 4600 pieces of blocks left on the jetty. Comprehensive inspections, such as external appearance examination, core-drilling of concrete blocks, ultrasonic detection, nuclear densimeter inspection and in-door and out-door chemical analysis, show that 75% of the blocks are of the rebound number of 21 - 23, and the saturated limit compressive strength and dry limit compressive strength of 10MPa; the carbonized depth of concrete is 1 - 2 mm. Compared with the state of the jetty in 1968, already used for 60 years then, the jetty is expected to serve another 40 years or more after being repaired.     

Basic Laws in Mechanics of Turbulent Flows

- Turbulent flow is a basic form of fluid motion widely observed in nature. In hydraulic engineering, especially in the study of sediment movement, turbulence is a key problem. In this paper, based on the stochastic theory of wall turbulence developed by the author and the results by other investigators, fluc-tuation and mean structures and drag coefficient for Newtonian and drag reduction flows in all states (laminar, transitional, turbulent) and in all regions (smooth, transitional, rough) are theoretically discussed in detail. General laws for laminar and turbulent flows obtained by the author are verified by the experimental results obtained by others, and there is good agreement between them.     

Study on Deposition in Semi-Closed Coastal or Estuarine Harbour Basins

A preliminary study on the distribution of sediment transport and siltation within a semi-closed harbour as well as the factors affecting the siltation has been made with a suspended sediment model, in which the Lianyungang port is used as the prototype. Based on the work, this paper describes a tubid water experiment within a typical excavated harbour basin. According to the experimental results some expressions for predicting the average siltation amount for semi-closed harbour basins by means of dimensional analysis have been proposed, with tidal features, harbour geometry and properties of sediment taken into account. Through comparing the calculated results with the laboratory and field measured data, it has been shown that the expressions presented in this paper are reasonable.     

A Normalized Stress-Strain Model for Soft Clays

-A nonlinear model for the stress-strain behaviour of normally consolidated clays is presented based on the experimental results. It is indicated that the volume strain under pure shear is a power function of stress ratio and the normalized stress-strain curve is a standard hyperbola. According to the model, the coefficient of pore pressure induced by shear stress and the critical stress ratio which governs the influence of the negative dilatancy are suggested. It is shown by some triaxial tests that the proposed model can be used to study the negative dilatancy and to describe the stress-strain-pore pressure adequately for soft clays.     

Tracing Method of Natural Sediments by Neutron Activation and Its Application

A new method of Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) for sediment movement study is presented in this paper. Through analyzing the natural sediment, the information about natural tracing agents has been obtained, which can show the direction of sediment movement and relative discharge of sediment transportation. Test results in some areas, such as Shantou Harbour and Hangzhou Bay, are in good agreement with those from normal hydrologic measurements and some results are not obtainable with the latter. The NAA is economical, practical and reliable, and should be widely used in engineering practice.     

Analysis on Suspended Sediment Deposition Rate for Muddy Coast of Reclaimed Land

A new expression for calculating suspended fine-sediment deposition rate is developed based on theoretic analysis and experiments. The resulting equation is applied to simulation of fine sediment deposition in the reclaimed land in the Hangzhou Bay, China. The hydrodynamic environment in this area is solved by use of a long wave model, which gives the 2D-velocity field and considers bathymetric changes due to fine sediment deposition. The expression is proved convenient to use in engineering practice, and the predicted deposition rate agrees with the annual data available from field measurements from the first year to the third year after the construction of the long groin as a reclaiming method.