Analysis of bedload transport in laminar flows

Bedload transport generally depends on the bed shear stress and Reynolds number. Many studies conducted for the condition of turbulent flows have revealed the dependence of the transport rate on the bed shear stress, while knowledge of the Reynolds number effect on the transport rate is very limited. As an extreme case to reflect the viscous effect on sediment transport, sediment transport in laminar flows is considered in this paper. A stochastic approach is adopted to explore how the transport rate can be associated with characteristics of laminar flows. First, the probability of erosion in the absence of turbulence is assumed to depend only on the randomness of bed particles. The probability is then applied to formulate the sediment transport rate, of which the derivation is made largely based on Einstein's bedload theory. The theoretical result indicates that the dimensionless transport rate for laminar flows is dependent on the dimensionless shear stress and dimensionless particle diameter or the shear Reynolds number. Comparisons are finally made between the derived formula and an empirical correlation available in the literature. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.