Global Riemann Solvers for Several $3\times 3$ Systems of Conservation Laws with Degeneracies

Abstract

We study several $3\times 3$ systems of conservation laws, arising in modeling of two phase flow with rough porous media and traffic flow with rough road condition. These systems share several features. The systems are of mixed type, with various degeneracies. Some families are linearly degenerate, while others are not genuinely nonlinear. Furthermore, along certain curves in the domain the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of different families coincide. Most interestingly, in some suitable Lagrangian coordinate the systems are partially decoupled, where some unknowns can be solved independently of the others. Finally, in special cases the systems reduce to some $2\times 2$ models, which have been studied in the literature. Utilizing the insights gained from these features, we construct global Riemann solvers for all these models. Possible treatments on the Cauchy problems are also discussed.