Numerical and experimental studies of annular flume flow

Annular flume studies of cohesive sediment beds are routinely used to investigate the erosion characteristics of the bed and the transport of suspended sediment. In order to interpret the results of such studies, an accurate description of the flow field and bed stress distribution is required. In this paper the flow field and bed stress distribution are calculated for a miniature annular flume using the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) package Harwell-FLOW3D. Particular attention is paid to the effect of singularities at the edges of the annular lid. The predictions are compared with data obtained from a miniature annular flume mounted on a Carri-med rheometer. By modifying the package, calculations are also made for inelastic non-Newtonian fluids, and the results are compared with data obtained with a Weissenberg rheogoniometer and flush mounted hot-film shear stress probes.