Effect of the W-beam central guardrails on wind-blown sand deposition on desert expressways in sandy regions

Many desert expressways are affected by the deposition of the wind-blown sand,which might block the movement of vehicles or cause accidents.W-beam central guardrails,which are used to improve the safety of desert expressways,are thought to influence the deposition of the wind-blown sand,but this has yet not to be studied adequately.To address this issue,we conducted a wind tunnel test to simulate and explore how the W-beam central guardrails affect the airflow,the wind-blown sand flux and the deposition of the wind-blown sand on desert expressways in sandy regions.The subgrade model is 3.5 cm high and 80.0 cm wide,with a bank slope ratio of 1:3.The W-beam central guardrails model is 3.7 cm high,which included a 1.4-cm-high W-beam and a 2.3-cm-high stand column.The wind velocity was measured by using pitot-static tubes placed at nine different heights(1,2,3,5,7,10,15,30 and 50 cm)above the floor of the chamber.The vertical distribution of the wind-blown sand flux in the wind tunnel was measured by using the sand sampler,which was sectioned into 20 intervals.In addition,we measured the wind-blown sand flux in the field at K50 of the Bachu-Shache desert expressway in the Taklimakan Desert on 11 May 2016,by using a customized 78-cm-high gradient sand sampler for the sand flux structure test.Obstruction by the subgrade leads to the formation of two weak wind zones located at the foot of the windward slope and at the leeward slope of the subgrade,and the wind velocity on the leeward side weakens significantly.The W-beam central guardrails decrease the leeward wind velocity,whereas the velocity increases through the bottom gaps and over the top of the W-beam central guardrails.The vertical distribution of the wind-blown sand flux measured by wind tunnel follows neither a power-law nor an exponential function when affected by either the subgrade or the W-beam central guardrails.At 0.0H and 0.5H(where H=3.5 cm,which is the height of the subgrade),the sand transport is less at the 3 cm height from the subgrade surface than at the 1 and 5 cm heights as a result of obstruction by the W-beam central guardrails,and the maximum sand transportation occurs at the 5 cm height affected by the subgrade surface.The average saltation height in the presence of the W-beam central guardrails is greater than the subgrade height.The field test shows that the sand deposits on the overtaking lane leeward of the W-beam central guardrails and that the thickness of the deposited sand is determined by the difference in the sand mass transported between the inlet and outlet points,which is consistent with the position of the minimum wind velocity in the wind tunnel test.The results of this study could help us to understand the hazards of the wind-blown sand onto subgrade with the W-beam central guardrails.

Wind tunnel test on the effect of metal net fences on sand flux in a Gobi Desert, China

The Lanzhou-Xinjiang High-speed Railway runs through an expansive windy area in a Gobi Desert, and sand-blocking fences were built to protect the railway from destruction by wind-blown sand. However, the shielding effect of the sand-blocking fence is below the expectation. In this study, effects of metal net fences with porosities of 0.5 and 0.7 were tested in a wind tunnel to determine the effectiveness of the employed two kinds of fences in reducing wind velocity and restraining wind-blown sand. Specifically, the horizontal wind velocities and sediment flux densities above the gravel surface were measured under different free-stream wind velocities for the following conditions： no fence at all, single fence with a porosity of 0.5, single fence with a porosity of 0.7, double fences with a porosity of 0.5, and double fences with a porosity of 0.7. Experimental results showed that the horizontal wind velocity was more significantly decreased by the fence with a porosity of 0.5, especially for the double fences. The horizontal wind velocity decreased approximately 65% at a distance of 3.25 m（i.e., 13 H, where H denotes the fence height） downwind the double fences, and no reverse flow or vortex was observed on the leeward side. The sediment flux density decreased exponentially with height above the gravel surface downwind in all tested fences. The reduction percentage of total sediment flux density was higher for the fence with a porosity of 0.5 than for the fence with a porosity of 0.7, especially for the double fences. Furthermore, the decreasing percentage of total sediment flux density decreased with increasing free-stream wind velocity. The results suggest that compared with metal net fence with a porosity of 0.7, the metal net fence with a porosity of 0.5 is more effective for controlling wind-blown sand in the expansive windy area where the Lanzhou-Xinjiang High-speed Railway runs through.

A laboratory test of the electrification phenomenon in wind-blown sand flux

The measured data in the wind-tunnel tests show that the wind-blown sand particles acquired a negative charge when their diameters are smaller than 250 μm and positive charge when their diameters are larger than 500 μm, which confirms Latham’s assumption that the large particles in wind-blown sand flux acquired positive charge while negative charge developed on small ones. In the meanwhile, the measured data also show that the average charge-to-mass ratio for wind-blown sand particles decreases with the increase of the particle diameter and the wind velocity, and increases with the rise of height. The electric field in wind-blown sand flux is mainly formed by the moving charged sand particles. Its direction is vertical to the Earth’s surface and upward, which is opposite to that of the fair-weather field. The electric field increases with wind velocity and height increasing. These experimental results will lay the foundation for developing the theoretical analysis of the electrification phenomenon in

风沙运动的力学机理研究

风沙运动机理研究是认识土壤风蚀、沙尘天气(甚至沙尘暴)以及风沙灾害本质,进而实现有效防治的基础。其中所涉及的诸如多尺度、多场耦合、随机性、非线性、尺度效应和复杂系统等科学问题也是当今科学前沿所关注的共性和热点课题。本文在简要回顾与风沙运动力学机理研究相关的已有工作的基础上,重点介绍了兰州大学风沙环境力学研究组针对风沙流中的沙粒带电量和风沙电场的基本规律及其对风沙流和无线电通讯的影响、风沙流发展过程的理论预测、固沙结构有效尺寸的分析、风成地貌主要特征的计算机模拟等方面所开展的研究工作。

张集铁路典型工程风力侵蚀试验及规律研究

随着在风力侵蚀区交通工程建设的增多,交通线路风力侵蚀问题日益受到关注。通过选取张集铁路,进行路堤、取土场和便道试验,对其输沙率和风速关系、风沙流结构和风蚀运动规律进行分析。结果表明,路堤边坡不同部位输沙率与风速存在明显的幂函数关系;设计高度为3 m路堤的风蚀现象与风速和风向无明显关系,随着风速增大趋势由迎风坡向背风坡移动,设计高度为6 m和9 m的路堤风蚀现象与坡面高度、风速和风向有较明显规律,但风蚀趋势变化不明显;大于6.7 m/s时,便道和取土场不同部位点均发生风蚀现象。以上研究规律可以为工点防护设计以及环境评价工作提供参考。

新疆戈壁地区风沙流结构及其粒径特征研究

为掌握研究区域风沙流活动情况,设计并完成了长跨时(2016年5月—2018年5月)的戈壁风沙流现场累积观测。基于观测数据和砂土样品,对研究区域的风沙流活动特征及其结构进行系统分析,在此基础上建立输沙通量廓线函数模型。结果表明:1)观测期间现场输沙率水平在177—330 g/(cm·a),均值约247 g/(cm·a)。2)风沙流和地表砂土粒径分布分别呈双峰和单峰型,且风沙流中砂土占比与地表砂土占比的比值随粒径增大而减小。3)建立的线性-多项式-幂函数和指数-幂函数两种模型都能较准确地描述风沙流的输沙通量廓线,拟合优度均值超过0.98,适用于反映现场风沙流结构。

DPTM simulation of aeolian sand ripple

Aeolian sand ripple and its time evolution are simulated by the discrete particle tracing method (DPTM) presented in this paper. The difference between this method and the current methods is that the former can consider the three main factors relevant to the formation of natural aeolian sand ripples,which are the wind-blown sand flux above the sand bed formed by lots of sand particles with different di-ameters,the particle-bed collision and after it the rebound and ejection of sand particles in the sand bed,the saltation of high-speed sand particles and the creep of low-speed sand particles,respectively. The simulated aeolian sand ripple is close to the natural sand ripple not only in basic shape and characteristic,particle size segregation and stratigraphy,but also in formation stages. In addition,three important speeds can be obtained by this method,which are the propagation speed of the saturated aeolian sand ripple and the critical frictional wind speeds of emergence and disappearance of sand ripple.

野外近地表风沙流脉动特征分析

基于风沙流实时测量系统对流沙地表的输沙强度以及不同高度风速进行实时测量所获得的数据,分析野外实际风场中的风沙流脉动特征。结果表明:沙粒的存在削弱平均流场,但对风速的高阶统计矩和分布形式影响不大,不同高度、不同来流平均风速条件下,风沙流中风速仍近似符合高斯分布;瞬时输沙强度服从指数分布,滞后风速约1s,脉动强烈;30min输沙强度平均值和脉动标准差均随平均风速的增大而呈幂函数增加,但随风速脉动强度的变化呈先增大后减小的趋势。这意味着脉动风速对输沙率具有重要影响,需要在输沙率预测公式中予以考虑。

塔里木沙漠公路对近地表风沙运动过程的影响

通过对塔克拉玛干沙漠腹地野外试验数据的分析,探讨了塔里木沙漠公路对近地表风沙运动过程的影响。结果表明:①阻沙栅栏和草方格固沙带对近地表气流的速度和风速廓线形成很大影响,风速整体被削弱,而且越接近地表,削弱程度越大,风速廓线的垂直梯度增加;②在防沙体系内,地表输沙率急剧下降,风沙流结构发生很大变化,下层含沙量下降,而上层含沙量相对变化较少,在阻沙栅栏的积沙带和草方格固沙带内上层含沙量趋于均匀分布;(3)阻沙栅栏和草方格固沙带也影响沙丘的移动。当主导输沙风向与栅栏相交呈小角度时,靠近栅栏的沙丘顺栅栏走向侧向移动相交呈大角度时,移动方向变化不大,草方格固沙带不影响沙丘的移动方向;阻沙栅栏和草方格固沙带能降低沙丘的移动速度,而在固沙带内部,由于沙丘的逆向演变,沙丘体积减小,移动速度较快。