Effects of the mid-air collision on sand saltation

As to the fact that the effects of saltating particles’ mid-air collision on the sand transport rate are often neglected in the current theoretical models describing sand saltation movement, expressions to calculate velocity diversity of saltating particles after mid-air collision are presented through collision theory of hard ball in this paper. Then, the theoretical model of the wind blown sand movement at the steady state, taking account of coupled interaction between saltation particles and wind, is combined with the model of the mid-air collision probability to calculate the saltating particles’ mass flux at heights, the sand transport rate, and further, their changing rules. The comparison of the results with those when the mid-air collision is not considered suggests that the mass flux at heights and the sand transport rate in this paper are less, and much closer, respectively, to the corresponding experimental values. The difference between the sand mass fluxes without and with consideration of mid-air collision increases at first, and then decreases as the height increases, exhibiting the stratified characteristics. Supported by the Key Project of National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 10532040), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 40571018 and 10772073), the New Century Outstanding Talent of the Ministry of Education of China, and the Science Fund of the Ministry of Education of China for PhD Program (Grant No. 20060730014)