A New Overflow Number for Analyzing and Designing Dual Rigid Barriers with Basal Clearance
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 150, Issue 6
Abstract
Multiple barriers with basal clearance are usually adopted in engineering practice to mitigate large volumes of debris flows. This approach allows for sufficient discharge and minimizes the need for cleaning and maintenance over the service life of the barriers. Despite the effectiveness, the design of basal clearance is still based on empirical methods, which can lead to uncertainty in safety. In this study, a new dimensionless overflow number is proposed for designing dual rigid barriers with basal clearance and validated with physical and numerical results. The physical tests were conducted using a 28 m long flume model. A finite element model calibrated using the physical test results is utilized for numerical parametric study to investigate the effects of basal clearance on debris flow impact force against dual barriers. Physical and numerical results reveal that can serve to determine whether the impact force on the second barrier is governed by basal discharge or overflow from the first barrier. A threshold value of can be used to design dual barriers with basal clearance to achieve the lowest impact force on the second barrier. The proposed also enables engineers to predict the impact force on the second barrier by only considering the impact force from basal discharge.
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Data Availability Statement
All data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
The work described in this paper is supported by the Areas of Excellence Scheme (Project no. AoE/E-603/18) and Early Career Scheme (Project no. 27205320) from the Research Grants Council (RGC) of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), China. Sunil Poudyal gratefully acknowledges the support of Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme (HKPFS) provided by the RGC of HKSAR, China.
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Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 150 • Issue 6 • June 2024
Copyright
© 2024 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Apr 24, 2023
Accepted: Jan 3, 2024
Published online: Mar 25, 2024
Published in print: Jun 1, 2024
Discussion open until: Aug 25, 2024
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