Sediment dynamics. Part 2. Dune formation in pipe flow

Abstract

We present a phase diagram of the different dune patterns observed when a bed composed of spherical particles is subjected to a pipe flow. While the threshold for incipient motion is determined by the Shields number, that for dune formation seems to be controlled by the Reynolds number. A simple linear stability analysis based on a particle flux derived by Ouriemi, Aussillous & Guazzelli (J. Fluid Mech., 2009) accounts reasonably well for the experimental observations.