Ill posedness in shallow multi-phase debris flow models

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Langham, Jake, Meng, Xiannan, Webb, Jamie P., Johnson, Chris G., Gray, J. M. N. T.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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_version_ 1866914443956322304
author Langham, Jake
Meng, Xiannan
Webb, Jamie P.
Johnson, Chris G.
Gray, J. M. N. T.
author_facet Langham, Jake
Meng, Xiannan
Webb, Jamie P.
Johnson, Chris G.
Gray, J. M. N. T.
contents Depth-averaged systems of equations describing the motion of fluid-sediment mixtures have been widely adopted by scientists in pursuit of models that can predict the paths of dangerous overland flows of debris. As models have become increasingly sophisticated, many have been developed from a multi-phase perspective in which separate, but mutually coupled sets of equations govern the evolution of different components of the mixture. However, this creates the opportunity for the existence of pathological instabilities stemming from resonant interactions between the phases. With reference to the most popular approaches, analyses of two- and three-phase models are performed, which demonstrate that they are more often than not ill posed as initial value problems over physically relevant parameter regimes - an issue which renders them unsuitable for scientific applications. Additionally, a general framework for detecting ill posedness in models with any number of phases is developed. This is used to show that small diffusive terms in the equations for momentum transport, which are sometimes neglected, can reliably eliminate this issue. Conditions are derived for the regularisation of models in this way, but they are typically not met by multi-phase models that feature diffusive terms.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2505_21254
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Ill posedness in shallow multi-phase debris flow models
Langham, Jake
Meng, Xiannan
Webb, Jamie P.
Johnson, Chris G.
Gray, J. M. N. T.
Fluid Dynamics
Depth-averaged systems of equations describing the motion of fluid-sediment mixtures have been widely adopted by scientists in pursuit of models that can predict the paths of dangerous overland flows of debris. As models have become increasingly sophisticated, many have been developed from a multi-phase perspective in which separate, but mutually coupled sets of equations govern the evolution of different components of the mixture. However, this creates the opportunity for the existence of pathological instabilities stemming from resonant interactions between the phases. With reference to the most popular approaches, analyses of two- and three-phase models are performed, which demonstrate that they are more often than not ill posed as initial value problems over physically relevant parameter regimes - an issue which renders them unsuitable for scientific applications. Additionally, a general framework for detecting ill posedness in models with any number of phases is developed. This is used to show that small diffusive terms in the equations for momentum transport, which are sometimes neglected, can reliably eliminate this issue. Conditions are derived for the regularisation of models in this way, but they are typically not met by multi-phase models that feature diffusive terms.
title Ill posedness in shallow multi-phase debris flow models
topic Fluid Dynamics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.21254