Analysis of urban flood inundation patterns according to rainfall intensity using a rainfall simulator in the Sadang area of South Korea

Abstract

An urban flood in the Sadang area located in South Korea was reproduced using a rainfall simulator. The rainfall simulator was developed to be able to demonstrate the rainfall intensity in range of 80-200 mm/h, and the artificial rainfall was created using 42 full cone type nozzles in the urban model. The uniformity coefficient of the rainfall distribution was 89.5%, which indicates the rainfall simulator achieved the high requirements for spatial uniformity. The flood experiments in the 1/200 scale model of the Sadang area were conducted using the rainfall simulator, and the flood patterns were investigated by changing the rainfall intensity. The rainwater mainly accumulated in the lowland of the crossroad where the entrances to the subway station are located. The flow velocity and the inundation depth were sharply increased until the rainfall intensity became 160mm/h. Furthermore, the unstable human activities based on the moment and the friction instabilities also occurred from 160 mm/h. These results suggest that the study area requires flood damage mitigation facilities considering a rainfall intensity exceeding 160 mm/h.