THE LOSS OF STABILITY OF LAMINAR FLOW IN OPEN CHANNEL AND THE MECHANISM OF SAND RIPPLE FORMATION

In the flow on a mobile bed in an open channel, sand ripple often appears after the sediment begins to move. Different scholars have different views on the formation of sand ripples. This paper holds that as the ripple in general is very small, its formation is due to the instability of the laminar flow or the evolution of the small-scale coherent structures in the sublayer adjacent to the wall of the open channel. When the shear stresses caused by the disturbing waves or the coherent structure near the bed surface boundary and the water flow itself are greater than the shields stresses, responses on the bed surface appear and the sand ripple forms. If the frequency of the shear stress caused by the disturbance is close to the natural frequency of the sand grains that produced resonance, such a phenomenon is called the 'detection property' of the sediment. It is at this point that the maximum resonance appears and the sand ripple develops rapidly.

Experimental study of flow intensity influence on 2-D sand ripple geometry characteristics

Sand ripples are common bedforms. The formation of sand ripples is related to flow conditions; different flow conditions cause different ripple geometries. The main aim of this study was to assess the relationship between flow intensity and two-dimensional ripple geometry characteristics. The experiments were carried out in a laboratory flume with natural sand whose bulk density Ps was 2 650 kg/m3 and median diameter D50 was 0.41 mm. The Froude number （Fr）, a flow intensity parameter, varied from 0.16 to 0.53, entirely within the subcritical range. Two-dimensional sand ripple geometry was measured and processed via statistical methods. The probability distributions of ripple length and height were obtained with different flow conditions. Through dimensionless analysis, the relationship between the flow intensity parameter （grain size Reynolds number Re. ） and the sand ripple geometry characteristic length （ ∧ ） and height （ △ ） was analyzed, and two formulas were obtained： ∧/D50 = 191.76Re 0.3 and △/D50 = 1.97Re 1.3, which are consistent with previous research results.

Stability characteristics of the open channel flow above the asymmetrical irregular sand ripples

Sandy bed cannot keep its original smoothness as the flows pass. With the increase of the flow intensity, the bed forms will appear as sand ripples and dune in turn. Among these morphologies, the sand ripple scale is the smallest, which is generally symmetrical when it just appears, but as time goes on, the asymmetrical form gradually develops. Just because of this sand ripples asymmetry, it manifests the influence of the flow on the bed morphology and also the impact on the laminar flow dynamical process, especially the stability characteristics. The stability features of laminar flow on open channels with the asymmetrical sand ripples are discussed, and also the results on the symmetrical sand ripples are compared in detail.

NUMERICAL STUDY FOR EVOLUTION OF COHERENT VORTEX IN UNIDIRECTIONAL OSCILLATORY BOUNDARY LAYER OVER SAND RIPPLES

Ripples are widely formed in river channels and coastal regions, the bed-forms and vortex dynamics accompanied with them are quite important because they are responsible for frictions and sediment transports. The coherent vortex structure play a key role in the process, so how to model them is needed for understanding the formation process of sand ripples. In this paper, 2D Large-Eddy-Simulation (LES) was used to predict the flow structure and the dynamics of coherent vortex. The numerical results show a complete process of formation, evolvement and disappearance for the cases of unidire ctional and oscillatory flows over symmetic and asymmetric ripples

Real-Time Simulation of Aeolian Sand Movement and Sand Ripple Evolution: A Method Based on the Physics of Blown Sand

Simulation and visualization of aeolian sand movement and sand ripple evolution are a challenging subject. In this paper, we propose a physically based modeling and simulating method that can be used to synthesize sandy terrain in various patterns. Our method is based on the mechanical behavior of individual sand grains, which are widely studied in the physics of blown sand. We accounted significant mechanisms of sand transportation into the sand model, such as saltation, successive saltation and collapsing, while simplified the vegetation model and wind field model to make the simulation feasible and affordable. We implemented the proposed method on the programming graphics processing unit （GPU） to get real-time simulation and rendering. Finally, we proved that our method can reflect many characteristics of sand ripple evolution through several demonstrations. We also gave several synthesized desert scenes made from the simulated height field to display its significance on application.

A Numerical Study on the Structure and Dynamics of Turbulence in Oscillatory Bottom Layer Flow over A Flat or Rippled Bed

This paper is mainly concerned with the turbulence in oscillatory bottom boundary layers over flat or rippled seaheds. Owing to the strong shear and anisotmpy of oscillatory flow, an anisotropic turbulence mathematical model is set up using the finite difference method, and the computational results of the model are verified by comparisons with wellknown experiments. Turbulent energy, dissipation and Reynolds stress can all be computed with this mathematical model, and the development processes of a large coherent vortex structure over a rippled bed, such as main flow separation, coherent vortex formation and curling, coherent vortex ejection and breaking up, are successfully simulated.

The Bedload Movement in the Changjiang Estuary

Sandwaves in the Changjiang estuary were measured with a shallow sediment profiler and an echosounder from 1978 to 1988. The data, together with grain size and bedform of sediment indicates that the bedload movement by rolling and saltation is of great significance to sediment transport and is the principal factor responsible for sandwave and sandbody development in the estuary. The sandwaves were found well-developed, which is related to the tidal range and the velocity of ebb current. However, the further growth is restricted by strong flood current prevailing in the estuary. Because of the significant bedload, the sandbodies shift obviously and frequently, and sometimes the exchange of position occurs between the sandbodies and tidal channels. As a result, ships are regularly forced to change their navigation course.

Investigations on Several Mechanical Problems in Windblown Sand Movement

It is very necessary for investigation on mechanism of windblown sand movement to understand and find out effective measures of preventing and reducing windblown sand, This also deals with some general features and hot spots in the scientific forelands. such as multi-scale problems. interactions among. multi-physical-fields, randomness and nonlinearity as well as complex systems. In recent years, a series of experiments in wind tunnels and theoretical modeling as well as computer simulation have been taken by our research group （the Laboratory of Environmental Mechanics on Windblown Sand Movement in Lanzhou University ）in a cross-disciplinary （mechanics and geography） viewpoint. Several original and essential studies were explored such as the main regularities of charges on sand particles, the mechanisms of electric field in windblown sand flux, the effects induced by the electric field on the flux, the microwave propagations, the evolution process of windblown and flux under mutual couple interations among several physical fields, and the simulation of the main features of Aeolian sand ripples.