A two-phase fluid model for epidemic flow

Abstract

We propose a new mathematical and computational modeling framework that incorporates fluid dynamics to study the spatial spread of infectious diseases. We model the susceptible and infected populations as two inviscid fluids which interact with each other. Their motion at the macroscopic level characterizes the progression and spread of the epidemic. To implement the two-phase flow model, we employ high-order numerical methods from computational fluid dynamics. We apply this model to simulate the COVID-19 outbreaks in the city of Wuhan in China and the state of Tennessee in the US. Our modeling and simulation framework allows us to conduct a detailed investigation into the complex spatiotemporal dynamics related to the transmission and spread of COVID-19.

Keywords

• Epidemic spread
• Fluid dynamics
• COVID-19 simulation