Incipient Motion of Sediment Under Currents

Summarized in the paper are the author's studies on incipient motion of sediment in recent 40 years. In addition to the forces of gravity, drag and lift, the cohesive force and the additional static pressure are important for fine particles. The relations between three stages of incipient motion are defined by use of instantaneous velocity. Formulas for initial velocity and critical shear stress are given and overall verified by the author's and others' experimental data.