A Simplified Model for Predicting Wind Erosion of Moistened Sands
Publication: Geo-Congress 2023
ABSTRACT
Wind erosion is responsible for the formation of various landforms and poses a significant risk to health, food security, and infrastructure. On Earth, the initiation of wind erosion is affected by the water content of the sediments, which can significantly increase the friction threshold velocity (FTV), which is the minimum wind velocity at the bed surface needed to initiate particle mobilization. Incorporating the effect of water on FTV is essential to assess problems such as sandstorm formation, topsoil removal in crops, or sand dune migration. In this study, a theoretical model is proposed to calculate the FTV in sands and horizontal surfaces using the principles of unsaturated soil mechanics. The sand matric suction is incorporated using soil water retention curves (SWRC). Two SWRCs are used resulting in simple functional forms that are easy to use. Data from the literature and new wind tunnel experiments are used to calibrate and validate the suggested FTV model. The results support the use of the proposed simplified equation as providing an adequate prediction of the FTVs of moistened sands.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Geo-Congress 2023
Pages: 412 - 421
History
Published online: Mar 23, 2023
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Aerodynamics
- Business management
- Continuum mechanics
- Dynamics (solid mechanics)
- Engineering mechanics
- Erosion
- Geology
- Geomechanics
- Geotechnical engineering
- Health hazards
- Hydrologic engineering
- Hydrology
- Moisture
- Particle velocity
- Practice and Profession
- Public administration
- Public health and safety
- Sandy soils
- Soil dynamics
- Soil mechanics
- Soil properties
- Soil suction
- Soil water
- Soils (by type)
- Solid mechanics
- Structural engineering
- Water and water resources
- Wind engineering
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