Effect of curvature of channel downstream edge on bed level changes of rivers

At river confluences, the flow patterns are very complex which cause deep scour bed, bank erosion and sedimentation. Such phenomena produce damage to hydraulic structures and change river morphology. Therefore, many studies were conducted to assess the location of scour depth in a sharp edge river confluence. The purpose of this study is to conduct experimental test to investigate the effect of curvature of downstream edge on sedimentation patterns at river confluence. Dimensional analysis was used to determine non-dimensional parameters, and then tests conducted with sharp downstream edge and three different radius of curvature of downstream edge, under different flow conditions. The results of this study show that as the radius of curvature increases, the maximum scour depth and point bar decreases significantly.