Debris Flow Rheology: Bingham Plug Flow & Levee Formation

A debris flow is a dense granular-fluid slurry that behaves as a Bingham plastic: it stays rigid until the local shear stress exceeds a yield stress τ_y, then shears viscously above that threshold. This simulator solves the steady Bingham velocity profile for a channelized flow on a slope — a rigid plug riding on top of a shearing basal layer — and renders it as thousands of moving particles whose color and speed follow the real formula. Because wall drag lowers the driving stress near the channel margins, the outer particles fall below the yield stress and stall in place, reproducing the self-formed levees that real debris flows leave behind as natural hazard deposits. Adjust slope angle, yield stress, plastic viscosity and flow depth and watch the plug thickness, surface velocity and Bingham number respond in real time.