This large open channel flow facility is 12m long, 30cm wide, has variable bed slope and can convey discharges up to 40 litres/sec. A very large pump controls the discharge while a weir at the downstream end of the flume controls the flow depth. The re-circulating flow passes through settling tanks which remove transported sediment.
The flume is used mainly for sediment transport research applicable to river engineering. It incorporates a specially designed sediment trap on its underside which captures transported sediment for analysis. Typical experiments in the flume involve sediment transport measurements, detailed imaging of the bed as it changes through time in response to the transport processes and detailed measurements of the turbulent flow structures near the bed using laser Doppler anemometry (LDA) and particle image velocimetry (PIV).