The advancing wave front on a sloping channel covered by a rod canopy following an instantaneous dam break

The drag coefficient $C_d$ for a rigid and uniformly distributed rod canopy covering a sloping channel following the instantaneous collapse of a dam was examined using flume experiments. The measurements included space $x$ and time $t$ high resolution images of the water surface $h(x,t)$ for multiple channel bed slopes $S_o$ and water depths behind the dam $H_o$ along with drag estimates provided by sequential load cells. Analysis of the Saint-Venant Equation (SVE) for the front speed using the diffusive wave approximation lead to a front velocity $U_f=\sqrt{\Gamma_h 2 g \phi_v'/(C_d m D)}$, where $\Gamma_h=-\partial h/\partial x$, $g$ is the gravitational acceleration, $\phi_v'=1-\phi_v$ is fluid volume fraction per ground area, $\phi_v=m \pi D^2/4$ is the solid volume fraction per ground area, $m$ is the number of rods per ground area, and $D$ is the rod diameter. An inferred $C_d=0.4$ from the $h(x,t)$ data near the advancing front region, also confirmed by load cell measurements, is much reduced relative to its independently measured steady-uniform flow case. This finding suggests that drag reduction mechanisms associated with transients and flow disturbances are more likely to play a dominant role when compared to conventional sheltering or blocking effects on $C_d$ examined in uniform flow. The increased air volume entrained into the advancing wave front region as determined from an inflow-outflow volume balance partly explains the $C_d$ reduction from unity.