Water Waves Generated by Landslides in Reservoirs

Results of hydraulic laboratory tests of an idealized rockfall are presented, with the main parameters being the ratio of rockfall width to water depth, λ/d, and a Froude number based upon the ratio of the average rockfall velocity to gd^.5. For a rather large range of these two parameters, a linear theory for the generation of water waves by a similar mechanism is shown to be useful as a guide to interpreting the results. For large values of the two parameters, especially λ/d, the linear theory of marginal usefulness. It is shown by means of the results of two similar tests, with a geometric scale ratio of 1:4, that a small model test can be used to predict the results to be expected from a large model test even in the range where bores form, provided the velocity time histories of the falling rock are similar.