Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2019 / iii / Paper 345 / 2

For a dilute particle suspension, take $W_s>0$ as the downward speed relative to the carrier fluid. The particle deposition flux through a horizontal absorbing bed is $W_s{\varphi }_b$, where ${\varphi }_b$ is the near-bed particle volume fraction. Without stirring, settling can create a particle-free upper layer and a descending concentration front, so uniform concentration throughout the remaining fluid is not automatic. Weak turbulence can maintain a nearly uniform suspended concentration while leaving the mean settling velocity approximately equal to the isolated-particle value; this justifies using $W_s\varphi$ in a mixed-layer balance. Strong stirring can produce resuspension and requires a separate erosion model.

For a bed inclined at angle $\vartheta$ to the horizontal, the normal settling speed is $W_s\cos \vartheta$, giving deposition flux $W_s{\varphi }_b\cos \vartheta$ per unit actual bed area. There is also downslope particle motion, and near-wall effects or resuspension can alter this simplest absorbing-boundary model. Integrating the normal projection over a sloping bed is equivalent to integrating $W_s{\varphi }_b$ over its horizontal projection.

The mixture mass density is $\rho ={\rho }_0+({\rho }_p-{\rho }_0)\varphi$, so its reduced gravity isThe Boussinesq approximation requires $({\rho }_p-{\rho }_0)\varphi /{\rho }_0\ll 1$, in addition to the dilution assumption.

The shallow-water approximation requires a small depth-to-horizontal-scale ratio, slow streamwise variation of the channel and interface, small vertical acceleration, and rapid enough cross-sectional mixing for $u$ and $\varphi$ to be representative averages. Near the channel apex, or during the initial collapse at a sharp front, these conditions need not hold. The high Reynolds number permits neglect of leading viscous resistance; weak stirring mixes the particles without appreciable ambient fluid entrainment.

Put $\lambda =\beta /H$. At elevation $z$, the channel width is $2\lambda xz$, so the occupied area and interface width areVolume conservation and suspended-particle conservation giveThe excess hydrostatic pressure is ${\rho }_{0}d\varphi (h-z)$. Its streamwise gradient averaged over the triangular section gives acceleration $-d\varphi h_x-(dh/3){\varphi }_x$: the weighted mean of $h-z$ is $h/3$. Thus the triangular-channel shallow water equations areThe quasilinear coefficient matrix in $(h,u,\varphi )$ isIts three distinct real eigenvalues, for $h,d\varphi >0$, establish strict hyperbolicity:On the material characteristic curve, $d\varphi /dt=-2W_s\varphi /h$. On each of the other two characteristic curves, multiplying by the left eigenvector $(\pm 2c/h,1,\pm dh/(3c))$ gives the compatibility ordinary differential equationThe derivatives are along the indicated characteristic, with $g^{\prime }=d\varphi$. At vanishing concentration, the gravity-wave speeds coalesce and strict hyperbolicity is lost.

Use the gravity-current front condition $\dot{L}=\mathrm{Fr}\sqrt{d\varphi h}$, with a specified order-one front Froude number. In a triangular-channel gravity-current box model, the depth and concentration are uniform over $0<x<L(t)$. The volume isThe horizontal projected deposition area is ${\int }_0^{L}Tdx=\lambda h{L}^2$. Consequently the integral model isThis front speed is a closure for the integral model, rather than the assertion that its uniform interior is an exact solution of the spatially varying shallow water equations.

Eliminating time and integrating givesThe limiting runout length of a gravity current is thereforeThe additional distance beyond the release gate is $L_{\infty }-L_0$. The limit is approached asymptotically as $\varphi \to 0$ and $\dot{L}\to 0$; the idealized box model does not predict a finite-time stop. Its numerical runout depends on the adopted front Froude number.