Abstract

The settling of a bidisperse suspension with small particles having different sizes and densities can be described by an initial value problem for a system of two non-linear, first-order conservation laws. Solutions to this problem are in general discontinuous and exhibit kinematic shocks that separate areas of different composition. The solution requires the construction of so-called elementary curves in phase space, which are determined from eigenvector fields of the Jacobian of the flux function. Differences in solution behavior to the previously analyzed equal-density case are due to an umbilic point, which appears for different densities only. The initial value problem is eventually solved by the front tracking method, which generates a series of Riemann problems. It turns out that the solution of the problem predicts a fairly complex process of sediment formation, and that the stationary solution can consist of non-constant smooth transitions. This observation is of interest for manufacturing of functionally graded materials. © 2008 Springer-Verlag.