Barchans interacting with dune-size obstacles: details of the fluid flow and motion of grains

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Lima, Nicolao Cerqueira, Assis, Willian Righi, Borges, Danilo da Silva, Franklin, Erick de Moraes
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2025
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author Lima, Nicolao Cerqueira
Assis, Willian Righi
Borges, Danilo da Silva
Franklin, Erick de Moraes
author_facet Lima, Nicolao Cerqueira
Assis, Willian Righi
Borges, Danilo da Silva
Franklin, Erick de Moraes
contents We investigate details of the interaction of subaqueous barchans with dune-size obstacles by carrying out numerical simulations where the fluid is solved at the grain scale and the motions of individual grains are computed at all time steps. With the outputs, we analyze the disturbances of the fluid flow, the trajectories of grains, and the resultant force on each grain, the latter being unfeasible from experiments and field measurements. We show that in some cases particles pass over the obstacle, while in others they completely circumvent it (without touching it), or are even blocked. For the circumvention and blocking cases, which we call bypass and trapped, respectively, we show the existence of a strong vortex between the lee face of the dune and the obstacle. This vortex results from the interactions of recirculation regions and horseshoe vortices, and has enough strength to deviate the main flow and carry grains around the obstacle in those cases. Our results shed light on the reasons for passing over, circumventing, and blocking, and contribute to our understanding of dunes in the presence of large obstacles such as hills, crater rims, and human constructions.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2506_12630
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Barchans interacting with dune-size obstacles: details of the fluid flow and motion of grains
Lima, Nicolao Cerqueira
Assis, Willian Righi
Borges, Danilo da Silva
Franklin, Erick de Moraes
Geophysics
Fluid Dynamics
We investigate details of the interaction of subaqueous barchans with dune-size obstacles by carrying out numerical simulations where the fluid is solved at the grain scale and the motions of individual grains are computed at all time steps. With the outputs, we analyze the disturbances of the fluid flow, the trajectories of grains, and the resultant force on each grain, the latter being unfeasible from experiments and field measurements. We show that in some cases particles pass over the obstacle, while in others they completely circumvent it (without touching it), or are even blocked. For the circumvention and blocking cases, which we call bypass and trapped, respectively, we show the existence of a strong vortex between the lee face of the dune and the obstacle. This vortex results from the interactions of recirculation regions and horseshoe vortices, and has enough strength to deviate the main flow and carry grains around the obstacle in those cases. Our results shed light on the reasons for passing over, circumventing, and blocking, and contribute to our understanding of dunes in the presence of large obstacles such as hills, crater rims, and human constructions.
title Barchans interacting with dune-size obstacles: details of the fluid flow and motion of grains
topic Geophysics
Fluid Dynamics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.12630