Influence of Rolling Resistance and Particle Size Distribution in the Simulation of Sand Infiltration into the Static Gravel Bed

Abstract

Fine sediment infiltration and subsequent clogging in a gravel bed affect several fluvial, ecological, and biological processes, resulting in the degradation of the river ecosystem. Despite many experimental and a few numerical studies, the process is yet to be entirely understood. We employed a pure Lagrangian framework, called the Discrete Element Method (DEM), to numerically investigate the infiltration process. Special attention is given to tackling the issue of non-spherical and irregular particle shapes and particle size distributions (PSDs) in numerical simulations. Due to computational limitations, these aspects were either not considered or simplified in previous numerical studies. We implicitly included non-spherical and irregular shape effects through rolling resistance models, which do not cause excessive computational overhead. Our study shows that rolling resistance models greatly influence packing and fine sediment infiltration. However, they may also lead to unphysical particle behavior; thus, they should be carefully used in numerical simulations. Oversimplified PSDs do not mirror natural systems, and full PSDs pose computational challenges. Sufficient grain classes are needed to mimic the non-homogeneity and poly-dispersity found in natural fluvial sediments. The infiltrating characteristics of sand concerning PSD and shape effects are linked to size ratio D15,Gravel/D85,Sand, assuring physical and realistic modeling of the infiltration process.