Numerical investigation on how heat flux avalanche jams trigger the staircase pattern formation

Abstract

Computational results are presented to describe the development of the staircase pattern as a result of the jam of heat flux avalanches. The nonlinear stage of the heat flux avalanche jam formation is analyzed based on the numerical simulations. Both hyperdiffusivity and shearing feedback provide a relevant saturation effect on the jam growth. The role of forcing is also discussed. Drawing analogy from the multiple jam formation in traffic dynamics, the formation of multiple corrugated layers of the temperature is demonstrated. It is shown that the staircase structure may be controlled by changing the strength of heating power.