Preliminary Discrete Particle Model in a Computer Simulation of Cohesive Debris Flows

The paper presents a numerical method to simulate the dynamics of a cohesive debris flow. The model is based on a molecular dynamics algorithm where the equation of motion is calculated for an ensemble of interacting particles. In addition to the hard-core repulsion and to the other forces commonly introduced to simulate granular media, in this work an attractive force between particles is added as a model for cohesion. The model is computationally straightforward and devoid of a series of cumbersome problems affecting fluid mechanical codes. Preliminary simulations presented here look promising, and indicate directions of study for a better comparison and test against field data.