Related papers: Grain size dependence of barchan dune dynamics
The spatio-temporal evolution of a downsized model for a desert dune is observed experimentally in a narrow water flow channel. A particle tracking method reveals that the migration speed of the model dune is one order of magnitude smaller…
In a recent experimental breakthrough, Hersen et al. [1] demonstrated that by changing the agitating medium from air to water, one can obtain, on laboratory scale, dunes that are downsized copies of desert dunes, thereby overcoming a major…
Many technologically useful materials are polycrystals composed of a myriad of small monocrystalline grains separated by grain boundaries. Dynamics of grain boundaries play a crucial role in determining the grain structure and defining the…
We report on grain dynamics versus depth for steady-state gravity-driven flow of grains along a heap formed between two parallel sidewalls. Near the surface the flow is steady and fast, while far below there is no flow whatsoever;…
Barchan dunes --- crescent-shaped dunes that form in areas of unidirectional winds and low sand availability --- commonly display an asymmetric shape, with one limb extended downwind. Several factors have been identified as potential causes…
Conventional grain growth is rate-limited by the mobility of grain boundary. To describe similar phenomena limited by the mobility of other grain junctions, we have developed a general theory allowing for size-dependent mobility and its…
We demonstrate the feasibility of studying dunes in a laboratory experiment. It is shown that an initial sand pile, under a wind flow carrying sand, flattens and gets a shape recalling barchan dunes. An evolution law is proposed for the…
We study, using simulations, the steady-state flow of dry sand driven by gravity in two-dimensions. An investigation of the microscopic grain dynamics reveals that grains remain separated but with a power-law distribution of distances and…
We investigate the possible outcomes of a subaqueous barchan moving over a crater-like depression in the bed. For that, we carried out experiments where we varied the dune size, crater and grain diameters, and flow velocities. We found that…
Dislocation dynamics simulation is used to investigate the effect of grain size and grain shape on the flow stress in model copper grains. We consider grains of 1.25-10 $\mu$m size, three orientations (<135>, <100> and <111>) and three…
Granular materials such as sand, powders, and food grains are ubiquitous in civil engineering, geoscience, agriculture, and medicine. While the influence of friction between the grains on the static structure of these systems is well…
The size distribution of mineral dust aerosols partially determines their interactions with clouds, radiation, ecosystems, and other components of the Earth system. Several theoretical models predict that the dust size distribution depends…
The structure of the barchan field located between Tarfaya and Laayoune (Atlantic Sahara, Morocco) is quantitatively investigated and compared to that in La Pampa de la Joya (Arequipa, Peru). On the basis of field measurements, we show how…
This paper reports a downscaled water tunnel experiment to study the temporal characteristics of a double dune interaction system and the new pattern of dune interaction when the initial mass ratio of the two dunes is large. These topics…
Interstellar medium is turbulent and this induces relative motions of dust grains. We calculate relative velocities of charged grains in a partially ionized magnetized gas. We account for anisotropy of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence,…
During plastic deformation of granular materials due to loading, the stress-strain and strength characteristics of sand grains are influenced with grain size, their distribution and packing. Also the macroscopic behaviour of granular…
It is well known that energy dissipation and finite size can deeply affect the dynamics of granular matter, often making usual hydrodynamic approaches problematic. Here we report on the experi-mental investigation of a small model system,…
The three-dimensional microstructure of Ni, observed after five annealing intervals, was compared to simulations of grain growth using the threshold dynamics method with the assumption of capillarity as the only driving force. A…
We investigate the role and behaviour of dust grains in C-type MHD shock waves in weakly ionized, dense molecular clouds. New shock models are presented for steady, oblique C-type shock structures with shock speed v_s=18km/s, n_H=10^5cm^-3,…
It has been observed that the direction in which a sand dune extends its crest line depends on seasonal variation of wind direction; when the variation is small, the crest line develops more or less perpendicularly to the mean wind…