SPH Modelling of the Kagerplassen Dyke Failure

Abstract

Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) is a mesh-less Computational Fluid Dynamics method suitable for several application fields such as floods, fast landslides and sediment removal from water bodies. As a preliminary demonstration, this method is herein applied to simulate the on-site experiment of the 3D full-scale Kagerplassen dyke failure. The geometries of the granular media and the water reservoir are elaborated from the available measures by means of analytical procedure. Results are provided in terms of: 3D fluid dynamics fields (medium interfaces and velocity); hydrographs (time series) for the medium/fluid level (maximum height), flow rate, cumulated volumes and velocity. The 3D SPH model simulates the triggering and propagation of the sliding surfaces within the dyke and simulates the following run-out of both the granular material and the water flood.