Abstract:In mountain rivers with coarse sediments, the ratio of water depth to sediment diameter (h/d) is relatively small especially under the condition of shallow water depth. Therefore, the vertical velocity distribution along the river cannot be described accurately with traditional logarithmic or logarithmic-wake law. In this paper, flume experiments were carried out with two kinds of sediments (glass beads d=1.4 cm and pinpong d=4 cm) to test the influence of coarse sediment on vertical velocity distribution under different h/d. In the presence of coarse sediment bed, one of the problems encountered is how to determine the reference level y₀. For practical purpose, the present study assumes that y₀ does not varies with h/d, namely, y₀=0.2d. The measured data were first converted to dimensionless and then compared to theoretical results calculated by logarithmic-wake law. In addition, the coefficient B and another wake coefficient Π in in logarithmic compensation formula were calibrated to fit for the measured data. The results indicate that when the value of h/d is small, the coefficient B decreases with the increase of h/d while the wake coefficient Π presents an opposite trend; when the value of h/d becomes larger, both B and Π tend to a constant. Finally, a modified logarithmic-wake law is derived to describe the velocity distribution in mountain river flows with small h/d. The modified model agrees well with the experimental data conducted in the present laboratory flume. Furthermore, it also has a good adaptability to riverbed with coarse sediments.