Sand transport in oscillatory flows in the sheet-flow regime

Background

When flow velocities at the seabed are very high, such as occur in storm conditions, sand is transported within a water-sediment mix, a few centimetres deep, moving over a flat, ripple-free bed. This sand transport regime is called “sheet-flow” and is important because of the high sand concentrations that are present in the sheet-low layer and very large volumes of sand are transported. Measurements of sheet-flow transport and transport processes, from controlled, large scale experiments, are essential for the development of well-founded predictive sand transport models.

Objectives

The SANTOSS-project will, for the first time, bring together existing data from large-scale oscillatory sheet-flow experiments conducted in The Netherlands, the UK and elsewhere. The combined data will constitute the best possible set of existing large-scale experimental data for oscillatory sheet-flow conditions. The research will also involve new experiments covering three important aspects of sheet-flow not covered by existing data:

Analysis of the combined existing data, together with the results from the new experiments, will greatly extend present insight and understanding of sheet-flow dynamics. The results will be used in the project to:

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