Abstract
For the safety of railroad operations, sand barriers are utilized to mitigate wind-sand disaster effects. These disasters, characterized by multidirectional wind patterns, result in diverse angles among the barriers. In this study, using numerical simulations, we examined the behavior of High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) sheet sand barriers under different wind angles, focusing on flow field distribution, windproof efficiency, and sedimentation erosion dynamics. This study discovered that at a steady wind speed, airflow velocity varies as the angle between the airflow and the HDPE barrier changes. Specifically, a 90° angle results in the widest low-speed airflow area on the barrier’s downwind side. If the airflow is not perpendicular to the barrier, it prompts a lateral airflow movement which decreases as the angle expands. The windproof efficiency correlates directly with this angle but inversely with the wind’s speed. Notably, with a wind angle of 90°, wind speed drops by 81%. The minimum wind speed is found at 5.1H (the sand barrier height) on the barrier’s downwind side. As the angle grows, the barrier’s windproof efficiency improves, extending its protective reach. Sedimentation is most prominent on the barrier’s downwind side, as the wind angle shifts from 30° to 90°, the sand sedimentation area on the barrier’s downwind side enlarges by 14.8H. As the angle grows, sedimentation intensifies, eventually overtakes the forward erosion and enlarges the sedimentation area.
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Acknowledgments
This research was financially supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Gansu Province, China (22JR5RA050, 20JR10RA231), the fellowship of the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2021M703466), and the Basic Research Innovation Group Project of Gansu Province, China (21JR7RA347).
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ZHANG Kai: Conceptualization, Supervision, Funding acquisition, Validation, Writing–review and editing. ZHANG Pei-li: Data curation, Writing–original draft, Project administration, Visualization, Investigation. ZHANG Hai-long: Supervision, Funding acquisition, Investigation. TIAN Jian-jin: Validation, Visualization. WANG Zheng-hui: Conceptualization, Visualization, Investigation. XIAO Jian-hua: Funding Acquisition, Supervision.
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Zhang, K., Zhang, P., Zhang, H. et al. Numerical simulation on sand sedimentation and erosion characteristics around HDPE sheet sand barrier under different wind angles. J. Mt. Sci. 21, 538–554 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-023-8302-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-023-8302-4