Experimental study of flow intensity influence on 2-D sand ripple geometry characteristics

Sand ripples are common bedforms. The formation of sand ripples is related to flow conditions; different flow conditions cause different ripple geometries. The main aim of this study was to assess the relationship between flow intensity and two-dimensional ripple geometry characteristics. The experiments were carried out in a laboratory flume with natural sand whose bulk density Ps was 2 650 kg/m3 and median diameter D50 was 0.41 mm. The Froude number (Fr), a flow intensity parameter, varied from 0.16 to 0.53, entirely within the subcritical range. Two-dimensional sand ripple geometry was measured and processed via statistical methods. The probability distributions of ripple length and height were obtained with different flow conditions. Through dimensionless analysis, the relationship between the flow intensity parameter (grain size Reynolds number Re*) and the sand ripple geometry characteristic length (Λ) and height ( Δ) was analyzed, and two formulas were obtained:Λ/D50=191.76Re*0.3 and Δ/D50=1.97Re*1.3, which are consistent with previous research results.