On the hindered settling of silt-water mixtures

On the hindered settling of silt-water mixtures

Te Slaa, S.
Van Maren, D.S.
Winterwerp, J.C.

Civil Engineering and Geosciences

Hydraulic Engineering

2012-10-11

The sedimentation behavior of silt particles in the hindered settling regime has been considered. Therefore, laboratory experiments are carried in especially designed settling columns. Silt-water mixtures are prepared and allowed to settle at various initial concentrations. During the settling process, a continuous vertical concentration profile is measured. Settling velocities are obtained from these profiles and are compared with the widely used Richardson and Zaki (1954) expression. This comparison showed that the Richardson and Zaki expression underestimates the settling velocities for the finest silts at high concentrations. For the coarsest silt the Richardson and Zaki expression performed will with the measured data. We anticipate that this is the effect of the particle size on the apparent viscosity of the settling silt-water mixture.

settling velocity
settling experiment
settling column
sedimentation theory
silt

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:71314155-c09a-4479-8f2f-93bf24a21d59

Water Resources University

ICEC 2012: 4th International Conference on Estuaries and Coasts, Hanoi, Vietnam, 8-11 October 2012

Institutional Repository

conference paper

(c) 2012 The Author(s)