On models of polydisperse sedimentation with particle-size-specific hindered-settling factors

Polydisperse suspensions consist of particles differing in size or density that are dispersed in a viscous fluid. During sedimentation, the different particle species segregate and create areas of different composition. Spatially one-dimensional mathematical models of this process can be expressed as strongly coupled, nonlinear systems of first-order conservation laws. The solution of this system is the vector of volume fractions of each species as a function of depth and time, which will in general be discontinuous. It is well known that this system is strictly hyperbolic provided that the Masliyah–Lockett–Bassoon (MLB) flux vector is chosen, the particles have the same density, and the hindered-settling factor (a multiplicative algebraic expression appearing in the flux vector) does not depend on the particle size but is the same for all species. It is the purpose of this paper to prove that this hyperbolicity result remains valid in a fairly general class of cases where the hindered-settling factor does depend on particle size. This includes the common power-law type hindered-settling factor in which the exponent, sometimes called Richardson–Zaki exponent, is determined individually for each species, and is a decreasing function of particle size. The importance of this paper is two-fold: it proves stability for a class of polydisperse suspensions that was not covered in previous work, and it offers a new analysis of real data.