Two-phase formulation of suspended sediment transport

Using a two-phase formulation, the vertical and horizontal momentum equations for sediment are used to obtain the concentration and velocity profiles of a dilute suspension of particles in a 2D uniform flow. Assuming the form of the vertical turbulent intensities and dilute concentrations of sediment, one can solve the equations analytically and compare them with experimental data. No empirical coefficients in the model are tuned to match individual experiments, for which the experimental data cover a large range of particle sizes and densities. The models are shown to accurately predict two experimentally observed but theoretically unexplained phenomena: the increased diffusive flux of large particles, and the measurable velocity lag of particles. The increased diffusion of large particles is shown to originate from the added diffusive nature of the sediment's Reynolds stresses. The horizontal velocity lag of particles is due to an induced velocity, termed the drift velocity, resulting from the correlation of particle concentration with areas of low horizontal velocity fluid.