Related papers: Force distribution within a barchan dune
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…
The simplest type of dune is the transverse one, which propagates with invariant profile orthogonally to a fixed wind direction. Here we show numerically and with a linear stability analysis that transverse dunes are unstable with respect…
The dune skeleton model is a reduced model to describe the formation process and dynamics of characteristic types of dunes emerging under unidirectional steady wind. Using this model, we study the dependency of the morphodynamics of…
The transport of solid particles entrained by a fluid flow is frequently found in industrial applications. A better knowledge of it, is of importance to improve particle related industrial processes. When shear stresses exerted by the fluid…
Compared to barchan dunes, the morphodynamics of linear dunes that elongate on a non-erodible bed is barely investigated by means of laboratory experiments or numerical simulations. Using a cellular automaton model, we study the elongation…
In landscape-scale experiments at the edge of the Gobi desert, we show that various dune types develop simultaneously under natural wind conditions. Using 4 years of high-resolution topographic data, we demonstrate that, depending on sand…
Sand-moving winds blowing from a constant direction in an area of high sand availability form transverse dunes, which have a fixed profile in the direction orthogonal to the wind. Here we show, by means of a linear stability analysis, that…
To analyze theoretically the stability of the shape and the migration process of transverse dunes and barchans, we propose a {\it skeleton model} of 3D dunes described with coupled dynamics of 2D cross-sections. First, 2D cross-sections of…
Spatiotemporal patterns in nature, such as ripples or dunes, formed by a fluid streaming over a sandy surface show complex behavior despite their simple forms. Below the surface, the granular structure of the sand particles is subject to…
Dense granular flows are well described by several continuum models, however, their internal dynamics remain elusive. This study explores the contact force distributions in simulated steady and homogenous shear flows. Results demonstrate…
We study the hydrodynamical behavior occurring in the turbulent interaction zone of a fast moving red supergiant star, where the circumstellar and interstellar material collide. In this wind-interstellar medium collision, the familiar bow…
We apply a model for sand dunes to calculate formation of dunes on Mars under the present Martian atmospheric conditions. We find that different dune shapes as those imaged by Mars Global Surveyor could have been formed by the action of…
Modern dune fields are valuable sources of information for the large-scale analysis of terrestrial and planetary environments and atmospheres, but their study relies on understanding the small-scale dynamics that constantly generate new…
We report on systematic measurements of the distribution of normal forces exerted by granular material under uniaxial compression onto the interior surfaces of a confining vessel. Our experiments on three-dimensional, random packings of…
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…
We reply to the comment by Andreotti and Claudin (submitted to Phys. Rev. E, arXiv:0705.3525) on our paper ``Minimal Size of a Barchan Dune'' [Phys. Rev. E {\bf{75,}} 011301 (2007)]. We show that the equations of the dune model used in our…
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…
On Mars, fields of sand dunes contrast with the general cratered, rocky terrain commonly seen from orbit. Near the equator, in Gale Crater, images from the rover, Curiosity, also reveal order on smaller scales: ripples on dunes, and ground…
The coupling of sediment transport with the flow that drives it allows rivers to shape their own bed. Cross-stream fluxes of sediment play a crucial, yet poorly understood, role in this process. Here, we track particles in a laboratory…
In nature, granular materials fail in abrupt avalanches, earthquakes, and other hazardous events, and also creep over time. Proposed failure mechanisms for these systems are broadly framed as friction-limited. However, mechanical…