Influence factors and two evolution patterns for retrogressive erosion of step
The stepped retrogressive erosion formed at the rollover point of the reservoir delta is a natural dynamic knickpoint when the water level drops below the rollover point elevation.This study presents a one-dimensional flow and sediment numerical model to simulate the stepped retrogressive erosion in laboratory flume experiments and a field large-scale reservoir.The rapid attenuation scouring process of the non-cohesive sediment step and the continuous and stable scouring process of the cohesive sediment step were well predicted.The formed downstream bed slope is larger than the top-slope and the step fast decays.Erosion occurs only at the part where the flow shear exceeds the critical bed shear stress in the cohesive sediment step.The maximum erosion is located at the bottom of the step,which enables stable existence of cohesive sediment step.For the fine-grained delta deposits in the Xiaolangdi Reservoir,the gradual and slow attenuation of the cohesive sediment step caused by lowering water level operation during the 2020 flood season has been observed.The simulated changes of the step location and the final longitudinal profile shaped by erosion match well with the observed features.The field large-scale cohesive sediment step in the reservoir is closer to that of non-cohesive sediment step in the flume.Combined with the numerical cases,it can be determined that there are two development types for the stepped retrogressive erosion:Attenuation type step and enhancement type step.The bed formed by the two types are significantly different,and the attenuation type step has a slower downstream slope than the upstream,while the attenuation type is the opposite.The control variables,such as the step height,upstream slope,sediment size,and unit discharge,all have thresholds,which cause the retrogressive erosion to transform between attenuation and enhancement types.