Numerical Approach to Wind Ripple in Desert

摘要

The wind ripples on a hexagonally packed sand bed are simulated in this paper with the aid of the discrete element method (DEM) where the evolvement of the sand particle-bed collision and dynamics of each grain contained in the wind ripple are considered. The simulation results agree well with the mature natural ripples. It is found that the wind speed and creeping sand grains have important influence on the wind ripples' formation.