Proceedings of the 19th IAHR-APD Congress 2014, Hanoi, Vietnam

ISBN xxx-xxxx-xx-x

A PHYSICAL HYDRAULIC MODEL OF SAIGON RIVER IN SOUTHERN VIETNAM

NGUYEN QUOC Y(1), LE THANH THUAN(1), TRA NGUYEN QUYNH NGA (1) & JOHN C. WELLS(2)
(1) Lab. of Fluid Mechanics, Hochiminh City University of Technology, Vietnam
e-mail: nguyenquocy@hcmut.edu.vn
(2) Ritsumeikan University, Japan

ABSTRACT
Saigon River, in the south of Vietnam, is suffering severely from bank erosion and failure. A number of efforts, including
academic researches, have been put to prevent the failure but limited success has been achieved. Contributing to
understand the failure mechanism, we have been conducting a study on effects of flow patterns on the bank erosion and
failure. Particularly, we are focusing on the secondary flows in the curved portions of the river. Both experiments and
numerical computations are conducted. This paper reports the experimental study. A physical hydraulic model of the
river portion around Thanh Da peninsula was built at scales of 1:500 and 1:100 in the horizontal and vertical directions,
respectively. The Froude number was near 0.1. Flow depths and flow velocities in the model were examined by a depth
gauge and a 3D (three-dimensional) Acoustic Doppler Velocimeter (ADV). The ADV measured streamwise velocity along
the model and sectional flowfields at different flowrates. From the measured data, effects of secondary flows on river bank
and bed erosion was discussed.

Keywords: Saigon River, physical hydraulic model, secondary flows, ADV

The portion of Saigon River around Thanh Da peninsula

1. INTRODUCTION
was selected for building the hydraulic model. This area is
Saigon River is in the South of Vietnam. It is a vital water one of most severely eroded parts of the river. Due to
source for Hochiminh City and neighbor provinces. The limited available space in our laboratory, only part of the
river forms Thanh Da peninsula, one of the most beautiful river was modeled, as seen in Figure 1.
S 4, Trng Th, Th c
H Ch Minh, Vietnam
10.835046, 106.759581

tourism parks in Hochiminh City. Recently, bank erosion

and failure happens frequently around this peninsula.
Many efforts have been put to prevent further erosion and
failure but little success has been achieved.
Hydraulic studies of this river have been conducted by
many researchers and projects (Hoang, 2008). Because of
large width of the river, direct field measurements were
limited. Instead, numerical computation was the most
used tool. In such models, the flow was treated mostly in
2D where the bulk flow was well approximated but lateral
and secondary flows was not properly accounted.
!
Rinaldi and Darby (2007) reported that secondary flows
Imagery 2014 DigitalGlobe, CNES / Astrium, Map data 2014 Google 1 km

play vital role in bank erosion and failure in curved rivers.

At river bends, bed shear stress varies with flow
conditions and local bathymetry. Therefore, studies are
needed for each river to understand this relationship
specifically.
Aiming to understand effects of secondary flows on the
bank erosion and failure in SaiGon River, we have been
conducting experiments for the most curved portion
where the bank failure happens most frequently. This
paper reports about building a scaled model of SaiGon
River at ThanhDa section and measuring flows in the
model in preliminary tests.
Figure 1. Studied portion of Saigon River (above) and the
2. PHYSICAL HYDRAULIC MODEL AND scaled hydraulic model (below).
EXPERIMENTAL SETUP
The bathymetry and hydraulic conditions of the river in
2.1 Physical hydraulic model the studied area were collected from our previous projects

1
in 2011. The measured maximum flowrate was about 2420 distance of about 2cm from each other along the section
m3/s. The according average velocity was about 0.88m/s. line.
The Froude number based on the average depth was
about 0.078.
To make physical hydraulic model of rivers, Froude
similarity is required (Julien, 2002). In addition, flows in
scaled model should have Reynolds numbers in the range
similar to those of the prototype river, which are usually
turbulent (Peakall et al, 1996). Because it is impossible to
satisfy both the Froude number and the Reynolds number
at the same time, we followed the Froude requirements
while the Reynolds number was kept above 500 to to meet
conditions for turbulent flows (Peakall et al, 1996).
Typical scale ratios for river models are from 1:100 to
1:1000. The vertical scale ratios for distorted models are
from 1:10 to 1:100 (Pacewater, 2011). For Saigon River in
the considered area, the width and the maximum depth
Figure 2. Experimental Setup. 1: Pump, 2: Flowmeter, 3: Tank of
are about 250m and 25m, respectively. With available
seeding, 4: Screens, 5: Upstream reservoir, 6: Water level gauge, 7:
space in our lab, a scale ratio of 1:500 in horizontal ADV gauge.
direction was acceptable. If the same ratio were applied to
the vertical direction, a maximum depth of 5cm was
expected. The Reynolds number based on the average
Flow velocities were measured with a SonTeck 16Mhz
depth in the model according to the above hydraulic
ADV (Acoustic Doppler Velocimetry) device which
conditions in the prototype river would be about 1000.
recorded three-dimensional velocities at 25Hz. Because
This Reynolds number is above the limit of turbulent
the probe of the ADV device is vertical, it can measure at
regime (Peakall et al, 1996). However, this depth was
points below 6cm from the free surface.
insufficient for our measurement devices which require a
least depth of 10cm to operate (see the following section). The ADV probe was placed on two rails on the horizontal
Therefore, we selected the vertical scale ratio of 1:100 and vertical directions. The rails were supported by the
which yielded a maximum depth of about 25cm and steel frame around the hydraulic model. Once water level
Reynolds number of about 29000 in the hydraulic model. at each section was recorded by the water level gauge,
points measurable with the ADV probe at that section
Materials of the model should also be scaled with
were determined.
materials of the prototype river. They should be also
movable. However, because we focused on the flow At each point, velocities were recorded during at least 90
structures in this study, the bed was fixed. For convenient, seconds. In initial runs, measurements were taken without
the model was fabricated with cement. any seeding particles added to the flow. As a result,
recorded data had much noise with ratios of noise to
From drawings of each section, as numbered in Figure 1,
signal (SNR) about 2 to 4 and correlations (CORR) of
guide frames made of acrylic sheets were fabricated. Plane
lower than 70% while they should be above 15 and 75%,
view of the model was printed out and glued on the
respectively (Ursic et al., 2012). Seeding particles were
ground. The guide frames were then placed along the
then added to the flow from the upstream reservoir,
plane drawing of the model. Next, concrete was applied
quality of recorded signal was improved with SNR about
between frames. Finally, cement was covered on the
25 and CORR about 98%, as seen in Figure 3.
model surface.
After fabricated, bed profile of the model surface was
checked with a Vernier gauge. The three-dimensional
view of the bed profile is also shown in Figure 1.

2.2 Experimental setup

The experimental apparatuses are shown in Figure 2.
Water was pumped from an underground reservoir
through a flowmeter to the upstream reservoir. Water
flowed from the upstream reservoir through three flow-
straighthening screens to the model. Positions and the
numbers of the screens were adjusted so that there was no
observable water wave trasmitting from the upstream
reservoir to the model.
Hydraulic conditions in the model were adjusted by two
means: flowrate through the pump and a sharp-crested
weir downstream of the model. Water after passing the
model returned to the underground reservoir.
Water level was measured with a Vernier height gauge
with a resolution of 1/20mm. The gauge was placed at Figure 3. Examples of signals of velocities recorded without
each section, as numbered as in Figure 1 on a supporting tracers, above, and with tracers, below.
steel frame. Water level at a section was recorded at a

2
3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS Figure 4 shows water levels at the three sections viewed
upstream. The depths were measured from the deepest
In this section, we present some preliminary results of
points of the sections. At the section no. 23, upstream of
water levels and velocity distributions. The water levels
the bend, the surface is almost horizontal. At the section
were considered at three sections as labeled in Figure 1: no. 23
no. 15, inside the bend, the water depth increases toward
before the bend, no. 15 inside the bend, and no. 8 after the bend.
the outer bank. This is explained due to inertia effects
The flowrate was kept constant at 10m3/h. Height of the
(Blanckaert and Vriend, 2003). Conversely, at the section
downstream weir was adjusted so that the maximum
no. 8, downstream of the bend, the water depth increases
water depth in the model was about 20 cm. The velocity
near the inner bank. This may be because at this section,
distributions were considered at three flowrates: 7.5m3/h,
the river slightly curves in the reverse direction.
10m3/h, and 12.5m3/h while the water level was fixed.

3.1 Water level 3.2 Velocity distributions

Table 1 shows wetted areas, bulk velocities V, Reynolds 3.2.1 Streamwise velocities
numbers Re, and Froude numbers Fr at sections no. 23, no.
15, and no. 8. The Reynolds numbers and the Froude
numbers were based on the bulk velocity and the average
depth T:
T=A/B [1]
where A and B were the wetted area and the width of the
water surface of the section, respectively.
The average velocity is about 6 cm/s; the average
Reynolds number is about 7800; and the average Froude
number is about 0.06. The Reynolds number confirms that
the flow in the model was turbulent while the Froude
number was comparable to the maximum Froude number
of 0.078 in the prototype river. Figure 5. Distributions of streamwise velocity along the hydraulic
model. Solid curves: 6cm-layer and dashed curves: 9cm-layer
Table 1. Velocities V, Reynolds number Re, and Froude number below the surface.
Fr at three sections: no. 23, no. 15, and no. 8.
Section V (m/s) Re Fr Figure 5 shows streamwise velocities at two layers of 6 cm
No. 23 and 9 cm below the free surface along the model for the
flowrate of 10m3/h. The velocities at the two layers are
0.06 6879 0.057 identical to each other, except for the section no. 15. Before
the bend, the velocity is higher near the inner bank
10 cm because the bed is deeper on this side. It is then
redistributed at the bend to become almost uniform after
No. 15
the bend.

0.05 8364 0.047 Figure 6 shows streamwise velocities at three layers of

6cm, 9cm, and 12cm at the section no. 15 for the same
10 cm flowrate as in Figure 5. It is seen that in the middle of the
section, velocity increases with the depth. For the 6cm-
No. 8 layer and 9cm-layer, the velocity tends to drop to zero
near the inner bank. This suggests there is a small flow
separation on the surface on that region. Unfortunately,
0.07 8070 0.073
our ADV device could not measure on that area. Ferguson
10 cm
et al. (2013) used numerical simulations to study flows in
river bends similar to the one in this study and reported
flow separations on the inner bank.
Average 0.06 7771 0.059

6cm-layer
9cm-layer
12cm-layer
8
170

160 section no. 23 6

u (cm/s)

section no. 15
section no. 8
depth (mm)

150
4
140

130
2
120

110 0
-200 -100 0 100 200 0 10 20 30
distance from center of the section (mm) position from the left bank (cm)

Figure 4. Water levels at three sections: no. 23, no. 15, and no. 8 Figure 6. Distributions of streamwise velocity at three layers of 6
viewed upstream. The outer bank is on the left. cm, 9 cm, and 12 cm below the free surface at the section no. 15.

3
Figure 7 shows depth-averaged streamwise velocity in the
horizontal direction at the section no. 15 for three
flowrates of 7.5m3/h, 10m3/h, and 12.5m3/h. The
according Froude numbers were 0.045, 0.06, and 0.075
respectively. The velocity was measured at five layers of
6cm, 8cm, 10cm, 12cm, and 14cm below the free surface.
At the flowrate of 7.5m3/h, the velocity is higher near the
outer bank. However, as the flowrate increases, the region
of highest velocity moves to the inner bank.
bends. Near the free surface, inertia effects induce flow
from the inner bank to the outer bank. As the water depth
on the outer bank is higher, hydrostatic pressure forces
water to move down on this side. As a result, a cross flow
circulation is formed (Blanckaert and Vriend, 2003;
Shimada et al, 2012; Ferguson et al, 2013).
1.2 cm/s
3.0 cm/s

9
7.5m3/h
8 10.0m3/h
12.5m3/h

6
u(cm/s)

2
50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400
distance from outer bank (mm)

Figure 7. Depth-averaged streamwise velocity in the horizontal

direction at the section no. 15 for three different flowrates.

60

80

100

120
Figure 9. Lateral velocites measured at the section no. 15 at three
7.5m3/h
depth (mm)

140 discharges: 7.5m3/h (above), 10 m3/h (middle), and 12.5 m3/h

3
10m /h (lower). Circles: streamwise components; arrows: lateral
12.5m3/h
160 components.
water surface
180

200
220
240
0 2 4 6
u (cm/s)
Figure 8. Depth-averaged streamwise velocity in the vertical
direction at the section no. 15 for three different flowrates.
Streamwise velocity averaged in the vertical direction is
shown in Figure 8 for the same conditions as of Figure 7.
For all three flowrates, the maximum velocity is observed
at the layer of 8cm from the free surface, which
corresponds to about 50% of the maximum water depth at
this section. This distribution is identical to typical one in
open channels (Kay, 2008).
3.2.2 Lateral velocities
Lateral velocities at the section no. 15 measured at the
three flowrates as of Figure 7 and 8 are presented in
Figure 9. From the velocity fields, two secondary
circulations are seen: the major circulation is nearer to the
inner bank and the minor one is near the free surface on
the outer bank side. The rotation of the major circulation is
from the inner bank to the outer bank near the free
surface. This rotational direction is well-known in river
As the flowrate increases, position of the core the minor
circulation does not change while that of the major one
moves downward toward the center of the river. The
8 10 lateral velocities near the outer bank also become stronger.
As one of the purposes of this study, we consider effects of
secondary flows on erosion and failure of the bank.
Typically, erosion of river bank is evaluated using bed
shear stress (Rinaldi and Darby, 2007) which can be
determined from the well-known law of the wall (Biron
et al, 1998):
= u*2 [2]
and
u* z [3]
u= ln
z o
where u is the time-averaged streamwise velocity at
elevation z above the bed surface, is the Karman
constant, u* is the friction velocity, and zo is the roughness
height.
It is assumed that the roughness height in our river is
uniform at the section no. 15. The bed shear stress is then
proportional to the streamwise velocity. From Figure 6
and 7, it is seen that this velocity is higher near the inner
bank. Accordingly, the bed shear stress, and probability of
erosion are higher near the inner bank. However, as it is
expected, at this bend, erosion should take place on the

4
outer side of the bend. The secondary circulation on Rinaldi M., and Darby S. E. (2007). Modelling river-bank-
Figure 9 is expected to cause such erosion. This erosion processes and mass failure mechanisms:
observation was also reported by Rinaldi and Darby progress towards fully coupled simulations,
(2007) and Shimida et al (2012). Developments in Earth Surface Processes, 11, 213-239.
Shimada R., Kimura I., and Shimizu Y. (2012).
As seen in Figure 9, as the flowrate or the Froude number
Computations on meandering compound channel
changes, both the strength and the location of the
flows using 3D URANS model, River Flow 2012, Ed. R.
secondary circulation change. Therefore, it requires more
Murillo, 106-112.
measurements and analysis to obtain more understanding
Ursic M.E., Thornton C.I., CoxA.L., Abt S.R. (2012).
of relations between secondary flows and bank erosion
Qualification of shear stress in a meandering native
and failure in the model as well as in this portion of
topographic channel using a physical hydraulic model,
Saigon River.
Report, U.S. Department of the Interior.

4. CONCLUSIONS
We have built a scaled hydraulic model of Saigon River in
the South of Vietnam. The main purpose of the study is to
examine effects of secondary flows on the bank erosion
and failure which is severe in the studied area. From the
measured flowfield in the model, it is observed that the
streamwise velocity was redistributed to become more
uniform as the flow passed the bend. At low flowrate, the
streamwise velocity was higher near the outer bank and
the core of the secondary circulation was nearer to the free
surface on the inner side. As the flowrate increased, the
streamwise velocity increased toward the inner bank
while the core of the circulation moved downward to the
center of the channel. It is then observed that the
secondary circulation had strong effects on the bank
erosion of this portion of the river. More extensive
measurements and analysis are required to obtain more
understanding of the problem.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This study is supported by AUN/SEED-Net project No.
HCMUT CRA 1301. The support is greatly appreciated.

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