Multi-shock structure of roll waves

The special class of periodic travelling waves which is known as roll waves is investigated for nonhomogeneous hyperbolic equations of gas dynamics type. In this Note these equations are applied to shallow water flows in inclined open channels, but the results obtained are more general and far-reaching. The necessary conditions for the existence of a roll wave are derived. It is shown that for a nonconvex pressure term, multi-shock configurations of roll waves of finite amplitude exist. A new type of periodic travelling wave, which corresponds to the slug flow regime in two-layer flows, is found. To cite this article: A. Boudlal, V.Yu. Liapidevskii, C. R. Mecanique 332 (2004).