LAUSR

Abstract Flow characteristics of thermally stratified shear flow in braided rivers are particularly complicated and poorly understood. In this study, a series of typical flow patterns was examined and their critical criteria were determined. Four flow patterns were identified: mixed, locally unstable, continuously stratified, and two-layer flow. Temperature distributions of the four types of flow patterns were analyzed and compared. The critical Froude numbers for unstable flow, F Dcr1 , and stable flow, F Dcr2 , were determined to be 6 and 1, respectively, and comparison of F Dcr1 and F Dcr2 to the peak Froude numbers, F D1 at the outer bank and F D2 at the inner bank along the anabranch, allowed the flow patterns to be assessed. Then, a discriminant based on initial Jeffreys-Keulegan stability parameters was established to distinguish the flow stages from two-layer flow to completely mixed flow. It is indicated that the three critical Jeffreys-Keulegan parameters increased with the diversion angle of braided rivers. Results also show that, compared to the stratified flow in straight and curved channels, it was more difficult for braided stratified flow to maintain as two-layer flow, and it more easily became mixed flow. Consequently, empirical expressions for stability criteria of the thermally stratified shear flow in braided rivers are presented.