Labs Sediment Transport Mechanics

Greg Tucker, Bob Anderson, Spring 2013

Modeling assignment # 1. Experiments with water volume balance in buckets and basins

Goals: You will gain experience with: setting up a code in IRF format; setting up simple arrays; stepping incrementally in time; and in plotting your results. We are here to help, so those who have not done this, please come in for help. Each of these modeling exercises is essentially open-ended. Get as far as time allows, given your starting point.

Leaky bucket revisited numerically 1. Now that you have gained experience in casting the simple problem of a leaky bucket analytically, let’s now develop a code that captures this process.

a) Write a MATLAB code that answers the following question: given a fixed input of water to the bucket, and a hole in the base of the bucket, how will the water level in the bucket evolve? Assume that the bucket starts with no water in it. Produce a plot of water level as a function of time.

b) Now allow the inputs to vary through time, in particular allow the input to oscillate sinusoidally. Specify a period and amplitude of the oscillation about the mean. Again, answer how the water level in the tank will vary through time. Produce a two-part plot in which you display both input and output of water on a top plot, and the water level on the lower plot.