Formation and evolution of roll waves in a shallow free surface flow of a power-law fluid down an inclined plane.

A laminar flow of a thin layer of mud down an inclined plane under the action of gravity is considered. The instability of a film flow and the formation of finite amplitude waves are studied within the framework of both two-dimensional governing equations of a power-law fluid and its depth-averaged hyperbolic simplification. The conditions of the existence of roll waves for these models are formulated in terms of the Whitham criterion. A free surface evolution and the development of roll waves are numerically calculated. The amplitude of roll waves obtained by the 2D equations is slightly larger than that for the 1D model. Moreover, for certain flow parameters, the small perturbations of the basic solution grow for the 2D equations and decay for the depth-averaged model. A two-parameter class of exact piecewise-smooth solutions of the 1D model is obtained and a comparison with a numerical solution is made. In the region of these parameters, diagrams of the roll waves existence are constructed. • A nonlinear analysis of the stability of film flows of a power-law fluid is carried out. • The difference in the flow stability criteria for 2D and 1D models is established. • Numerical calculations of the roll waves development are performed. • Diagrams of the existence of roll waves are constructed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]