Viscous treatment of the snow phase in Eulerian Eulerian simulations of drifting snow

A novel viscosity model for drifting snow was developed to meet the CFD modeling requirements of drifting snow using a fully two-way coupled Eulerian-Eulerian formulation. This approach allowed explicit resolution of the saltation layer without resorting to empiricism, unlike other Eulerian-Eulerian models. Initial validations were carried out against detailed snow flux, snow transport, airflow, and turbulence measurements in a controlled experimental simulation of a non-equilibrium saltation layer in a wind tunnel using actual snow particles. The two-way coupled approach using the novel viscosity model was found capable to accurately simulate drifting snow in the saltation layer and agreed with the experimental findings in general. Recommendations were made to improve the turbulence modeling, improve the method’s accuracy in the suspension layer and to allow simulating a drifting snow phase with a particle …