Heated particle-laden layer 2026-10-05
A dilute particle suspension can supply both excess mass density and heat. To first order its equation of state is , where is the particle volume fraction and is fractional thermal expansion. Particle deposition flux reduces , while particle heating increases . The competition can reverse the reduced gravity and create unstable density stratification.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 345 2 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
The exact mixture equation of state is . Keeping first-order terms in the small particle volume fraction and thermal expansion givesThe omitted term is . The downward solid-volume particle deposition flux is ; the corresponding particle mass flux is . Uniform vertical mixing and constant layer depth implyFor , set . Thenand henceThe heated particle-laden layer loses its stable density stratification when this contrast vanishes. For , solving for the neutral-buoyancy time givesThe layer is neutral at and statically unstable for . The subsequent uniformly mixed lower-layer solution cannot represent the resulting overturning.
If , then , , and the continuous limit is . If , the layer stays denser than its surroundings at every finite time and becomes neutral only asymptotically when ; thus . These limiting cases must replace the printed formula when its denominator vanishes.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 345 2 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
Use the shallow-water approximation, a hydrostatic vertically mixed layer, a deep motionless ambient, and no ambient fluid entrainment. Particle loss changes reduced gravity but changes total layer volume only at the discarded dilute-particle order. Likewise thermal expansion changes the equation of state while the leading Boussinesq approximation retains volume conservation. DefineDepth integration of mass conservation, horizontal momentum balance, particle transport, and the heating law givesHere the integrated excess hydrostatic pressure is . There is no particle source from the bed. Bed drag and the particle contribution to inertia are neglected at this order. The equivalent variable-buoyancy shallow water equations areThe term is necessary when heating or particle loss makes the reduced gravity vary horizontally.
For , the quasilinear system hasIts characteristic polynomial factors asThus the characteristic curves have slopesOn the two repeated contact characteristic curves, the particle and heating laws are and . Writing and , the gravity-wave compatibility relations areFor and , gravity-wave right eigenvectors can be taken as . The contact eigenspace has dimension two: and , with independent . Therefore has a full set of real eigenvectors.
The system is hyperbolic throughout strict static stability, but not strictly hyperbolic because the contact speed is repeated. At the eigenvalues coalesce and this diagonalizability is lost; when the gravity-wave speeds become complex, reflecting the loss of a statically stable lower layer.