Wind erosion damage rules of desert highway are simulated using the Fluent software. The process of disturbance
acceleration
speed-down
and recovery of the sand flow that is obstructed by different highway cross-sections are analyzed. The influences of main cross-section design parameters such as subgrade (cutting) height
slope
and pavement width on the sand flow are determined; and the wind erosion rules of desert highway subgrade (cutting) are proposed. The results indicate that the influence of the pavement width on wind speed variety is slight
the changes of wind speeds at feature points are less than 5%; but the subgrade (cutting) height and slope have great influence on wind speed variety. The disturbance of sand flow field is reinforced with the subgrade (cutting) height increases
the wind erosion damage of subgrade (cutting) is more evidently. While the side slope is 1:1
the wind speed on the shoulder of windward when the subgrade model height is 250 mm is 1.15 times more than the speed when the subgrade model height is 60 mm
but the wind speed on the bottom of leeward slope decreases 45%; the wind speed on the shoulder of windward when the cutting model height is 250 mm is 1.05 times more than the speed when the cutting model height is 60 mm; but the wind speed on the bottom of leeward slope decreases about 80%. So it is suggested that the desert highway should use middle or low height subgrade (cutting) and shouldn’t be filled highly or digged deeply. While the height of subgrade (cutting) is certain
and the side slope is 1:1.75 or 1:2
the change of wind speed along the subgrade (cutting) is gentle; and the accelerate effect of windward shoulder and the speed-down effect of leeward bottom are inconspicuous. At this time
the subgrade isn’t destroyed by wind erosion and the leeward bottom of cutting isn’t changed by accumulation easily. The conclusions drawn from numerical simulating are consistent with the experiment results perfectly.