Study on erosion damage of aeolian sand concrete by wind-grit flow in Gobi gale area: laboratory experiment and numerical simulation

The high-energy winds carrying sand and grit in the Gobi gale zone threaten infrastructure along transportation routes. The aeolian sand resources are abundant in this area. The use of aeolian sand instead of river sand to prepare concrete can reduce the construction cost. Therefore, in this paper, the method of replacing river sand with equal mass percentage is used to prepare aeolian sand concrete (ASC) with different amount of aeolian sand, and its erosion wear rule under the wind-grit flow (WGF) is studied. Using microscopic analysis, it clarifies the underlying mechanisms of this erosion and develops a parametric model to describe the erosion process. The E/CRC model has been enhanced by incorporating factors like aeolian sand replacement rate and grit size, leading to an erosion model specifically designed for ASC in Gobi environments. Numerical simulations analyze the velocity flow field around ASC and the pressure distribution on erosion surfaces, offering supplementary insights to the experimental results. These findings offer theoretical support for the durability of ASC in the Gobi wind-grit flow environment.