Transporte de fondo potencial mediante estudio en modelo físico de lecho móvil

Abstract

Potential bed-load transport rates are determined by an experimental study in a moving-bed physical model. This study was conducted for the HidroSanBartolo hydroelectric project located in Negro river South of Ecuador. Prospective bed-load rates were established with five theoretical equations for the fluvial hydrology conditions of interest. Additionally, according to the governing laws of the morphological equilibrium of a natural channel, the river response to erosion-accretion processes is evaluated through a control point upstream. Also, based on the bed slope, the theoretical rates are calibrated. Considering the control morphodynamic mechanisms, the Nielsen simplified method was established as the recommended scheme to calculate the transport rates, to calibrate the model, and to analyze the scenarios for the river. The final rates obtained represent the 85% percent of the values calculated with this formulation with values of 662 kg/s for the channel forming flow of 50 m3/s and 914 kg/s for the humid season flow of 75 m3/s.