International Journal of Advanced Engineering Research and Technology (IJAERT 262

Volume 3 Issue 7, July 2015, ISSN No.: 2348 8190

APPLICABILITY OF BAGNOLDS (1966) APPROACH FOR TOTAL LOAD

TRANSPORT RATE
Sahita I Waikhom1, Dr.S.M.Yadav2, Manali Shah3
Associate Professor, Civil Engineering Department, Dr. S & S.S. Ghandhy Government Engineering College, Surat, Opp.
RTO, Nr, Majura Gate
2
Professor Civil Engineering Department, Sardar Vallabhai National Institute of Technology, Icchanath, Surat
3
Ex P.G Scholars in Water Resources Management, Civil Engineering Department, Dr. S &S.S. Ghandhy Government
Engineering College, Surat, Opp. RTO, Nr, Majura Gate

Abstract
Present study aims to verify the Bagnolds (1966)
sediment transport dimensionless equations for
estimating total bed material load transport rate based on
the concept of energy balance in alluvial flows using
flume data of Samaga et al (1986 a & b) consisting of
four sediment mixtures namely M-1, M-2, M-3 and M-4
having different arithmetic mean diameters and standard
deviation. Various statistical parameters are used to
determine the applicability of the Bagnolds equation
and results are discussed.
Keywords: Bed-material load, Bagnold approach,
Samaga et al, Sediment transport, Statistical
parameters.

I. INTRODUCTION
Rivers and canals convey water as well as sediment from
the catchment to the sea or outfall of the canal. As a
result, all natural mobile boundary streams are subject to
change, either through erosion or deposition. However
sediment process in alluvial channel and streams also
lead to various other engineering and environmental
effects such as Land Erosion and Soil conservation,
silting of reservoirs, degradation, aggradations, local
scour, flood damage, etc. One of the major issues of
sedimentation research is the estimation of the amount of
sediment material, which a specific flow can carry. In
order to deal with various problems such as dislodging
and transportation of soil particles along with water due
to soil erosion, suitable channel characteristics
requirements for one of the mode of transport such as
navigation channels, etc. are to be assessed.
Computation of total sediment transport rate in alluvial
streams can be carried out using various approaches
based on different concepts like probability, regression,
stream power, regime, etc. In the present study,
applicability of microscopic approach of Bagnold
(1966), who was the first researcher to propose stream
power concept, to compute total bed material load

transport rate is verified using data set of Samaga et al

(1986 a & b).
Microscopic approaches undertake calculation of bed
load and suspended load separately to obtain total
load.The first bed load equation was developed by Du
Boys in 1879. Since then several equations have been
proposed for the prediction of bed load transport rate by
renown researchers like Meyer-Peter and Muller (1948),
Einstein (1950), Bagnold (1966), Rijn (1984), Samaga et
al (1986), Swamee and Ojha (1991) etc. Suspendedsediment transport refers to the grains of sediment
moving in suspension along with flow of the stream. The
theoretical equation for the distribution of suspended
sediment in turbulent flow has been given by H. Rouse.
Further modification of the theory can be found in
Einstein and Chien (1955), Vanoni (1984), Van Rijn
(1984), Hassanzadeh (1985, 1979) and others.

II. DATA USED

Data set of Samaga et al (1986) is used to verify the
applicability of Bagnolds (1966) microscopic
approach. Data covers hydraulic parameters range of
0.0057-0.0146 for flow discharge (m3/s), 0.06-0.11
for flow depth, 0.49-0.75 for flow velocity, 0.00450.00693 for channel slope and 0.200-.350 for grain
size for the mixture M-1, M-2, M-3 and M-4.

III. METHODOLOGY
Bagnold proposed new dimensionless equations for
estimating bed and suspended load transport rates based
on the concept of energy balance in alluvial flows. From
the physical point of view, the stream power supplies
energy for the fluid flow, which is used partially in
transportation of bed and suspended load particles. Fluid
flow, on the other hand, performs work on the sediment
particles to keep them in movement. This work is
proportional to the available stream power. Hence
Bagnold use this concept to relate bed and suspended
load transport rates to the available stream power.
A. Bed load transport formula (1966)

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International Journal of Advanced Engineering Research and Technology (IJAERT 263

Volume 3 Issue 7, July 2015, ISSN No.: 2348 8190

In Bagnold (1966) theory, product of shear stress and the

average flow velocity is regarded as the available power
for transporting sediment particles.
For the stream power p, bed load transport rate can be
defined as:

B. Suspended load transport formula (1966)

According to Bagnold, a particle is suspended when the

bed shear velocity, u* exceeds its fall velocity and the
general expression to compute suspended load transport
rate can be described as:

C. Total load transport formula (1966)

Total load transport rate per unit width (q) can be obtain
by the summation of Bed load transport rate (qb) and
suspended load transport rate (qs) i.e.

FIGURE 2
PERCENTAGE ERROR BETWEEN OBSERVED AND
PREDICTED TOTAL LOAD TRANSPORT RATE FOR
M-2 MIXTURE

IV. DATA ANALYSIS

Bed load and suspended load transport rate for the
Bagnolds function are predicted. Total load transport
rate is predicted by the summation of bed load and
suspended load transport. Larger no. of data sets for the
Bagnold approach is difficult to obtained as the fall
velocity defined by the Bagnold requires fractional
sediment transport data to calculate suspended load. So
as per the data availability, the applicability of the
Bagnold equation to determine total load transport rate is
carried out using the data set of Samaga et al (1986 a &
b). Comparison between the predicted results and
Observed values for the total load transport of the
Bagnolds function using the data set of Samaga et al is
shown in below fig.1, 2, 3 and 4 for the mixtures M-1,
M-2, M-3 and M-4 respectively.

FIGURE 1
PERCENTAGE ERROR BETWEEN OBSERVED AND
PREDICTED TOTAL LOAD TRANSPORT RATE FOR
M-1 MIXTURE

FIGURE 3
PERCENTAGE ERROR BETWEEN OBSERVED AND
PREDICTED TOTAL LOAD TRANSPORT RATE FOR
M-3 MIXTURE

FIGURE 4
PERCENTAGE ERROR BETWEEN OBSERVED AND
PREDICTED TOTAL LOAD TRANSPORT RATE FOR
M-4 MIXTURE

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International Journal of Advanced Engineering Research and Technology (IJAERT 264

Volume 3 Issue 7, July 2015, ISSN No.: 2348 8190

From above fig.1, 2, 3 and 4 it could be observed that

Bagnold total load function over-predicts the sediment
transport rate with most of the data lying between 0% to
+400% error range for mixture M-1 and 0% to +300%
error range for M-2. Results scatters over a wide range
of error for mixture M-3 while error range for mixture
M-4 is between 0% to 430 %. Statistical parameters
calculation to determine the applicability of the
Bagnolds equation is carried out as shown in Table1
below:
TABLE I
STATISTICAL PARAMETERS FOR THE TOTAL LOAD
TRANSPORT RATE FOR THE BAGNOLD APPROACH (1966)

V. CONCLUSION
Bagnolds approach over predicts the total load
transport for the four sediment mixture ( M-1,
M-2, M-3 and M-4 ) of Samaga et al. data.
It is also observed that Bagnolds transport
functions predicts better for sediment dia ranges
from 0.290 to 0.35 mm with less discrepancy as
compare to other sediment mixture of lesser dia
of sediment size.
Bagnolds approach fails to predict for M-3
mixture with large scattering values as compared
to mixture M-1, M-2 and M-4.

as a Probability Problems), Verlag Rascher, Zurich,

1937, 110 p.
[5] Einstein, H.A., Formulae for the Transportation of
Bed Load, Trans., ASCE, 1942, Vol. 107
[6] Laursen, E. M., The Total Sediment Load of
Streams, Journal of the Hydraulics Division,
ASCE, No. HY1, 1958.
[7] Meyer-Peter, E., and Muller, R., "Formulas for BedLoad Transport," Proceedings, Second Congress
IAHR, Stockholm, Sweden, 1948
[8] Milliman, J. D., and Meade, R. H., World Wide
Delivery of River Sediments to the Oceans, J.
Geol., 1983, Vol. 91, pp.1-21.
[9] Rijn, L.C. van, Sediment Transport, Part 1: Bed
Load Transport, J. Hydr. Engrg., ASCE, 1984a,
Vol. 110, No. 10, pp. 1431-1456.
[10] Rijn, L.C. van, Sediment Transport, Part 2:
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J., A Formula for Bed Load
Transportation, Houille Blanche, 1959, Vol.4,
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[12] Samaga, R. B., Ranga Raju, G. K., and Garde, J. R.,
Bed Load Transport of Sediment Mixtures, J.
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[13] Samaga, R. B., RangaRaju, G. K. and Garde, J. R.,
Suspended Load Transport of Sediment Mixtures,
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1019-1035.
[14] Swamee, P. K., and Ojha, C. S. P., Bed Load and
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No. 6, pp. 774-787.
[15] Vanoni, V. A., and Brooks, N. H., Laboratory
Studies of the Roughness and Suspended Load of
Alluvial Streams, Sedimentation Laboratory,
California Institute of Technology, M.R.D. Sediment
Series No. 11, Pasadena, California, 1957, 121 p.

REFERENCES
Bagnold, R.A., An Approach to the Sediment
Transport Problems from General Physics, U.S.
Geol. Survey, Prof. Paper 422-I, 1966, p. 37.
[2] Du Boys, P., Le Rhone t les Rivieres a Lit
Affouillable, Annales des Ponts et Chaussees,
Series 5, 1879, Vol.18, pp.141-195
[3] Einstein, H. A., The Bed-Load Function for
Sediment Transportation in Open Channel Flow,
United States Department of Agriculture,
Washington, D.C., Technical Bulletin No. 1026,
Sept., 1950, p. 25.
[4] Einstein,
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Der
Geschiebetrieb
als
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[1]

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