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Numerical simulation of aerodynamic suspension of particles during wind erosion

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Abstract

The wind erosion is the main cause of many environmental phenomena such as desertification, dust haze, sandstorms, and energy balance changes in the atmosphere. Wind erosion occurs when the friction velocity exceeds the threshold friction velocity. Threshold friction velocity depends on many parameters such as surface roughness, heat flux, moisture of soil and soil texture. In this article, the horizontal and vertical fluxes of particles due to wind erosion have been studied using a numerical method. Atmospheric boundary layer has been modeled with computational fluid dynamic for different wind profiles and the flow field near the surface has been solved. The values of velocity’s components of air flow have been used to calculate wind erosion fluxes according to balance equations of particles. The erosion flux of particles in terms of suspension, saltation and creeping have been calculated according to threshold friction velocities. Finally, the relation between fluxes has been determined and the correlation of erosion flux and direct suspension in terms of friction velocity and particle diameter has been presented. Comparing the results with previous works revealed that the value of direct suspension of particle C (kg/ms) is related to total erosion flux Q (kg/ms) as Q = 30,553 C 2 + 6.4316 C + 0.0017.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Environment, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

    Khosro Ashrafi, Mostafa Kalhor & Majid Shafie-Pour

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

    Vahid Esfahanian

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  1. Khosro Ashrafi
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  2. Mostafa Kalhor
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  3. Majid Shafie-Pour
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  4. Vahid Esfahanian
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Correspondence to Khosro Ashrafi.

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Ashrafi, K., Kalhor, M., Shafie-Pour, M. et al. Numerical simulation of aerodynamic suspension of particles during wind erosion. Environ Earth Sci 74, 1569–1578 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-015-4153-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-015-4153-9

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