Wind tunnel experiment on the impacts of polyacrylamide on wind erosion of loosen soil materials

The disturbed and loosen soils in cultivated farmlands and onconstruction sites are known to be amongst the main sources responsible forduststorms. Controlling wind erosion of the disturbed soils is of great importancefor environmental protection. Wind tunnel experiments were conducted to study the impacts of Polyacrylamide(PAM) on the threshold wind velocity in wind erosioncontrol, and wind erosion prevention. The experiments involved four different wind approaching slopes: 0°, 10°, 20° and 30°, six soil surface treatments: 0(untreated, control), 0.5, 1, 2 and 4 g/m² of PAM, as well as surface water application. The experimental results indicate that PAM application to soil surfacecan dramatically increase the threshold wind velocity which means a good control of soil wind erosion. The threshold wind velocities of soil samples treated withwater were also higher than those of untreated samples but the degree was very limited. If the surface treated with of PAM of more than 1 g/m² with no disturbs(or no crackles on the surface), the loosen soil can withstand a strong wind of 14 m/s for more than 30 min without wind erosion.