A solution with free boundary for non-Newtonian fluids with Drucker-Prager plasticity criterion

TL;DR

This paper analyzes a free boundary problem modeling non-Newtonian fluid flow with Drucker-Prager plasticity, establishing existence, properties, and free boundary estimates in an unbounded domain.

Contribution

It introduces a variational formulation for the problem, constructs sub- and supersolutions, and characterizes the free boundary and critical conditions for flow.

Findings

Solution has compact support with a well-defined free boundary.

Existence of a critical angle for non-zero flow solutions.

Provides estimates for the free boundary location.

Abstract

We study a free boundary problem which is motivated by a particular case of the flow of a non-Newtonian fluid, with a pressure depending yield stress given by a Drucker-Prager plasticity criterion. We focus on the steady case and reformulate the equation as a variational problem. The resulting energy has a term with linear growth while we study the problem in an unbounded domain. We derive an Euler-Lagrange equation and prove a comparison principle. We are then able to construct a subsolution and a supersolution which quantify the natural and expected properties of the solution; in particular they show that the solution has in fact compact support, the boundary of which is the free boundary. The model describes the flow of a non-Newtonian material on an inclined plane with walls, driven by gravity. We show that there is a critical angle for a non-zero solution to exist. Finally, using the sub/supersolutions we give estimates of the free boundary.