Numerical simulation of sand transfer in desert and its suppression

Abstract

Yearly, concerns on environmental problem of the earth are growing on. One of the typical issues is desertification. To inhibit harmful effects of desertification, the prediction methods which clarify mechanism of desertification are required. It is expected that numerical simulations are useful for the purpose. However, the numerical procedure and the physical models for predictions have not been established yet. Hence, the purposes of the present study are to construct the holistic simulation technique which reasonably reproduces a sand transfer, and to apply it to create an effective prevention method of desertification. The computational target is wind tunnel experiments of sand transfer around a cube on the sand surface conducted by Tominaga(1). Numerical results are compared with the experiments. In the computation, it is confirmed that the results are quantitatively similar to the experiments, for example, the eroded sand height around the cube.