Experimental determination of the concentration Probability Density Function for a saltating particle layer

Abstract A horizontal saltation layer of glass particles in air was investigated experimentally in a wind tunnel. Particle concentrations are measured by light scattering diffusion and image processing and all the statistical characteristics were evaluated and thus the probability density function. Our experimental results confirm that the mean concentration decreases exponentially with height, the mean Eulerian dispersion height H being a characteristic lengthscale and that the instantaneous concentration distribution c ˜ ( x → , t ) is a random variable following quite well a lognormal distribution. To cite this article: X. Zhang et al., C. R. Mecanique 334 (2006).