Incompressible Fluids in Thin Domains with Navier Friction Boundary Conditions (I)

This study is motivated by problems arising in oceanic dynamics. Our focus is the Navier–Stokes equations in a three-dimensional domain Ω_ɛ, whose thickness is of order O(ɛ) as ɛ → 0, having non-trivial topography. The velocity field is subject to the Navier friction boundary conditions on the bottom and top boundaries of Ω_ɛ, and to the periodicity condition on its sides. Assume that the friction coefficients are of order O(ɛ^3/4) as ɛ → 0. It is shown that if the initial data, respectively, the body force, belongs to a large set of H¹(Ω_ɛ), respectively, L²(Ω_ɛ), then the strong solution of the Navier–Stokes equations exists for all time. Our proofs rely on the study of the dependence of the Stokes operator on ɛ, and the non-linear estimate in which the contributions of the boundary integrals are non-trivial.