A quasi single-phase model for debris flows and its comparison with a two-phase model

A depth-averaged quasi single-phase mixture model is proposed for debris flows over inclined bed slopes based on the shallow water hydrosediment-morphodynamic theory with multi grain sizes. The stresses due to fluctuations are incorporated based on analogy to turbulent flows, as estimated using the depth-averaged k − ε turbulence model and a modification component. A fully conservative numerical algorithm, using wellbalanced slope limited centred scheme, is deployed to solve the governing equations. The present quasi single-phase model using four closure relationships for the bed shear stresses is evaluated against USGS experimental debris flow and compared with traditional quasi single-phase models and a recent physically enhanced two-phase model. It is found that the present quasi single-phase model performs much better than the traditional models, and is attractive in terms of computational cost while the two-phase model performs even better appreciably.