The effects of electric fields on wind driven particulate detachment

The effects of external electric fields upon the wind driven detachment of granular material has been investigated experimentally using an environmental wind tunnel facility. It has been shown that for sand sized grains on an electrically conductive surface there is a significant reduction in the threshold shear stress required for detachment at electric fields above 200 kV/m. However, if the surface is insulating then dielectric effects cause an increase in surface adhesion and an increase in the detachment threshold. This would be relevant in arid environments where the surface conductivity is low.