Grain shape controls on sediment transport

While grain size is well known to be a strong control on sediment transport, the role of grain shape has only recently been recognized. We’re using coupled CFDEM numerical models, fieldwork, and physical experiments to study how particle shape affects both dry granular flows and sediment bedload transport in a fluid flow.

Particle shape controls on granular segregation:

Check out our recent paper, and some excellent articles written about this work from University of Rochester and Nautilus!

Tracking RFID pebbles with different shapes in a local stream

Funded by NSF in collaboration with Dustin Trail, we are tracking RFID-tagged rocks to determine how shape affects sediment transport distances in a natural stream, with the ultimate goal of improving our ability to find critical mineral sources from fluvial sediment characteristics.

Grain shape effects on the accuracy of pebble counts

Undergrad Elisa Yang is using shape and volume measurements of 1200+ natural pebbles to determine how shape can affect estimates of grain size and the threshold for motion.