A two-phase flow model for sedimentation and consolidation

Abstract

Sedimentation and consolidation, a multi-physical phenomenon of great significance in aquatic environments, usually involves dynamic pore pressure, inertial effects, fluid-particle interphase interaction and solid stress. However, simplified models for sedimentation and consolidation typically assume hydrostatic mixture pressure and neglect inertial effects without proper justifications. Here, a one-dimensional three-equation two-phase flow model (TTP) is proposed for sedimentation and consolidation, which directly resolves dynamic fluid pressure and inertial terms. The present TTP model is benchmarked against a series of experimental cases and two existing four-equation two-phase flow (FTP) models. It features encouraging performance as compared to measured data and computed results of the existing FTP model. Furthermore, the present TTP model shows superior computing efficiency over the FTP models. To investigate the influences of inertial effects and non-hydrostatic mixture pressure, two simplified versions of the TTP model are constructed and compared with the TTP model. It is shown that incorporating inertial effects and non-hydrostatic fluid pressure are important for accurately predicting the sedimentation-consolidation process. The present study facilitates a promising framework for modelling sedimentation and consolidation, thereby supporting effective sediment management.