Hi [name removed],
I have run into a perplexing issue that runs counter to what I would’ve expected. In essence, I’m trying to determine the armoured GSD from a known, pre-armoured GSD and so I’m running the model without any sediment input (fluxes = 0.,0.). I am using GAIA, [name removed] and [name removed], and bedload only for this simulation. My GSD runs from over 56 mm to under 1 mm (gravel stream).
My problem is that the bed at the inlet boundary is beginning to rise in ripples perpendicular to the flow direction. This accumulation is on the order of 7 cm in 35 minutes. This doesn’t sound like much, but it does cause a numerical instability problem where at the scale of my model (flow depth ≤ 30 cm), it causes supercritical inflow and since I don’t have an H at the inlet, it halt-and-catch-fires. Obviously, I could bandage the model by setting a known H, but this only moves the problem back a step.
Fundamentally, what I don’t understand is why would the bed rise, and why would sediment build up, at the inlet when there is no sediment influx? I would expect the opposite - scouring at the inlet - rather than a buildup. Maybe I’m missing something obvious, but this makes no physical sense to me. I have checked the cumulative bed evolution on the boundary itself and it is > 0 cm, so it’s not digging downward on the boundary to accumulate sediment at the next nodes.
Could it be worth it to try with a different set of equations? [name removed] seems most suitable to my application, so I’d rather not try others for now, but I can try MP&M as well.
I have attached a screenshot of the phenomenon as well as my steering files (apologies for the mess; I have no idea how best to structure a .cas). If needed, I can provide .cli and .slf, but I’d prefer not to if possible.
Thanks for any insight on why GAIA would accumulate sediment!
[name removed]
hdyn-coup-01h00.cas (4.23 KB)
gaia-wc.cas (2.51 KB)
