Morphology and Substrate Control on the Dynamics of Flowlike Landslides
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 136, Issue 2
Abstract
A numerical model set up to simulate rapid flowlike landslide motion across three-dimensional terrain has been used to investigate the capability of various constitutive relationships to model the dynamics of complex events characterized by a changing type of substrate and morphology (e.g., glacier, bends). The numerical procedure is based on a continuum mechanics approach and on depth-averaged St. Venant equations for shallow flows. The developed RASH3D code includes the possibility of using several rheological laws, whose parameter values can vary along the runout path. Two rock avalanche cases, with some morphological peculiarities along the propagation path, have been numerically back-analyzed with both a frictional and a Voellmy rheology. Of the two considered rheologies, the Voellmy model produces the most consistent results in terms of runout area as well as velocity values. The main drawbacks of the frictional model are the tendency to predict excessive spreading of the mass and to overestimate the velocities. The results show that, when a complex problem of runout of rapid flowlike landslides has to be analyzed, it is necessary to have detailed knowledge of the geological and morphological features and to resort to increasingly complex rheologies.
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Acknowledgments
The writer wishes to thank Dr. Anne Mangeney (IPGP, France) and Dr. Marie-Odile Bristeau (INRIA, France) for having offered the use of the SHWCIN code and for having helped solve some fundamental numerical problems, Dr. Giovanni Mortara (CNR-IRPI Torino, Italy) and Dr. Andrea Tamburini (IMAGEO s.r.l, Torino, Italy) for having provided the data concerning the Thurwieser rock avalanche, and Prof. Claudio Scavia for the fruitful discussions.
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Information
Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 136 • Issue 2 • February 2010
Pages: 376 - 388
Copyright
© 2010 ASCE.
History
Received: Nov 26, 2008
Accepted: Aug 5, 2009
Published online: Aug 20, 2009
Published in print: Feb 2010
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