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Dynamical models for sand ripples beneath surface waves
K H Andersen1, M L Chabanol, M van Hecke
1Center for Chaos and Turbulence Studies, Niels Bohr Institute, Blegdamsvej 17, 2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark.
Abstract:
We introduce order parameter models for describing the dynamics of sand ripple patterns under oscillatory flow. A crucial ingredient of these models is the mass transport between adjacent ripples, which we obtain from detailed numerical simulations for a range of ripple sizes. Using this mass transport function, our models predict the existence of a stable band of wave numbers limited by secondary instabilities. Small ripples coarsen in our models and this process leads to a sharply selected final wave number, in agreement with experimental observations.
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