Related papers: Surface Instability in Windblown Sand
Aeolian sand beds exhibit regular patterns of ripples resulting from the interaction between topography and sediment transport. Their characteristics have been so far related to reptation transport caused by the impacts on the ground of…
We apply a theoretical approach, originally introduced to describe aeolian ripples formation in sandy deserts, to the study of surface instability in ion sputtered surfaces. The two phenomena are distinct by several orders of magnitudes and…
We study the initial instability of flat sand surface and further nonlinear dynamics of wind ripples. The proposed continuous model of ripple formation allowed us to simulate the development of a typical asymmetric ripple shape and the…
A simple model is presented for the formation of rolling grain ripples on a flat sand bed by the oscillatory flow generated by a surface wave. An equation of motion is derived for the individual ripples, seen as "particles", on the…
Vortex ripples in sand are studied experimentally in a one-dimensional setup with periodic boundary conditions. The nonlinear evolution, far from the onset of instability, is analyzed in the framework of a simple model developed for…
Three-dimensional sand ripples can be observed under steady liquid flows in both nature and industry. Some examples are the ripples observed on the bed of rivers and in petroleum pipelines conveying sand. Although of importance, the…
We extend the model of surface granular flow proposed in \cite{bcre} to account for the effect of an external `wind', which acts as to dislodge particles from the static bed, such that a stationary state of flowing grains is reached. We…
Ripples are the most fundamental and ubiquitous aeolian bedforms formed on sandy surfaces, but their small size and fast response times make them inherently difficult to measure. However, these attributes also make ripples excellent flow…
An experimental study of a granular surface submitted to a circular fluid motion is presented. The appearance of an instability along the sand-water interface is observed beyond a critical radius $r_c$. This creates ripples with a spiral…
When a solid object or wheel is repeatedly dragged on a dry sandy surface, ripple patterns are formed. Although the conditions to form ripple patterns have been studied well, methods to eliminate the developed ripple patterns have not been…
We formulate a continuum model for aeolian sand ripples consisting of two species of grains: a lower layer of relatively immobile clusters, with an upper layer of highly mobile grains moving on top. We predict analytically the ripple…
We report an experimental investigation of aeolian sand ripples, performed both in a wind tunnel and on stoss slopes of dunes. Starting from a flat bed, we can identify three regimes: appearance of an initial wavelength, coarsening of the…
Windblown sand creates multiscale bedforms on Earth, Mars, and other planetary bodies. According to conventional wisdom, decameter-scale dunes and decimeter-scale ripples emerge via distinct mechanisms on Earth: a hydrodynamic instability…
From geometry and conservation we derive two nonlinear evolution equations for sand ripples. In the case of a strong wind leading to a net erosion of the sand bed, ripples obey the Benney equation. This leads either to order or disorder…
We study the morphological evolution of surfaces during ion sputtering and we compare their dynamical roughening with aeolian ripple formation in sandy deserts. We show that, although the two phenomena are physically different, they must…
We analyze theoretically the dynamics of aeolian sand ripples. In order to put the study in the context we first review existing models. We argue on the local character of sand ripple formation. Using a hydrodynamical model we derive a…
Periodic sediment patterns have been observed on Earth in riverbeds and sand and snow deserts, but also in other planetary environments. One of the most ubiquitous patterns, familiar wind or 'impact' ripples, adorns sand beaches and arid…
Patterns of vortex ripples form when a sand bed is subjected to an oscillatory fluid flow. Here we describe experiments on the response of regular vortex ripple patterns to sudden changes of the driving amplitude a or frequency f. A…
When submitted to the repeated passages of vehicles unpaved roads made of sand or gravel can develop a ripply pattern known as washboard or corrugated road. We propose a stability analysis based on experimental measurements of the force…
The wind-driven hopping motion of sand grains, known as saltation, forms dunes and ripples and ejects fine dust particles into the atmosphere on both Earth and Mars. While the wind speed at which saltation is initiated, the fluid threshold,…