ICE JAM PROCESSES IN A CURVED CHANNEL

Ice jams formed in rivers are very complicated physical phenomenon. To uncover the formation and development mechanism of ice jams, multi-disciplinary knowledge involving thermodynamics, solid mechanics, hydrology, hydraulics and river dynamics is needed. Due to their inherent complexity, properties of ice jams still need to be further explored. Natural rivers meander on their way. Usually the formation of ice cover and ice jams starts from the locations where flow changes its direction, i.e., the curved sections of a river. Hence, to investigate the formation and development of ice jams at curved river sections is very important. Through the comparison of experimental data with forensic ice-jam study, the authors proposed a new Critical Froude Number (CFN) for determining the sequence of development of ice jam after the formation of ice-cover, i.e., whether the ice jam will start accumulating from upstream or downstream of a river. The results in this paper are valuable for both numerical study and engineering practice