Application of two-layer hypothesis to fully developed flow in ice-covered curved channels

Presented herein are the results of a study in which the two-layer hypothesis is applied in the formulation of flow in curved ice-covered channels. In accordance with this hypothesis, ice-covered flow can be treated as two free-surface flows: one associated with the bed and the other with the ice cover. The two-layer hypothesis is customarily used in analysis of flow in straight ice-covered channels. The results of the analysis are compared with measurements of flow velocity made using a simulated ice jam formed in a curved flume. The comparison reveals that the formulation is adequate only as a means of obtaining preliminary estimates of order-of-magnitude and direction of streamwise and transverse components of flows. It does not facilitate satisfactory detailed simulation of the inherent three-dimensionality of curved-channel flows.