Simulation of aeolian sand saltation with rotational motion

Abstract

In this work, we propose a theoretical model based on the distribution functions of initial liftoff velocity and angular velocity of sand grains to describe a sand saltation process in which both wind field–sand grain coupling and the Magnus force experienced by saltating sand grains have been incorporated. The computation results showed that the Magnus force had significant effects on sand grain saltation. In particular, when the Magnus force was incorporated, the calculated sand transport fluxes and sand transport rate per unit width were closer to the experimental value than when this force was excluded. The sand transport flux is enhanced because the Magnus force owing to particle rotation causes the particles to have higher and longer trajectories, so the particles can get more speed and energy from the wind, which leads to a larger sand transport flux. In addition, it was found that when taking the Magnus force into account, the probability density of the impact velocity and angular velocity of saltating sand grains followed an exponential distribution and a unimodal asymmetric distribution, respectively. Moreover, the sand energy flux increased with the height above the sand surface until the energy flux reached its maximum and then decreased. Furthermore, the energy flux near the ground surface decreased as the grain diameter increased, but beyond a specific height the energy flux increased with the grain diameter. Finally, for the same sand grain diameter, the energy flux increased with the friction velocity.