Three-dimensional bursting phenomena in meander channel

Experiments were conducted in a U-shaped open-channel flume with the intention of investigating the bursting phenomena in the meander channel. The experimental results of the secondary flow fields and the Reynolds shear stress distributions show that the velocity and velocity fluctuation in the transverse direction are not negligible. Moreover, the bursting process is investigated using the three-dimensional quadrant analysis, which is more accurate than using the traditional two-dimensional quadrant analysis for the meandering channel. It is obtained from the experimental results that the internal group of events occurs more frequently than the external group, particularly the internal ejection and internal sweep events. In addition, the transition probabilities of the movements, which are defined as the changes of events from the current situation to the next situation in a time series, show that the stable organizations of events are the most possible movements, whereas the cross organizations of events have the least possible movements.