Mathematical modelling of cohesive sediment transport in rivers is a challenging task because of the large number of governing parameters involved and hence a viable option is a semi-empirical modelling approach. In such an approach, the transport characteristics of cohesive sediments are modelled using empirical parameters and these parameters are measured in the laboratory using site specific sediments in specialized flumes such as a rotating annular flume in the laboratory. During my tenure at the National Water Research Institute in Burlington, Ontario, Canada as a Research Scientist, I was successful in the design and installation of a large rotating annular flume at the Hydraulics Laboratory (https://www.researchgate.net/profile/B_Krishnappan).
A photograph of the flume is shown below:
In this photograph, the top view of the flume is shown. The platform that supports the flume is 7 metres in diameter and it is a rotating platform. The circular flume, which is 5 metres in diameter and 30 cm wide is resting on the rotating platform. This circular flume is fitted with an annular lid that fits inside the flume with very close tolerance (the gap between the edges of the lid and the flume walls is about a millimeter). The lid is engineered to rotate counter to the rotation of the supporting platform. The flow field generated within the flume is nearly two dimensional and is ideal for testing the transport of cohesive sediments and establish the governing parameters.