Effect of design parameters on energy mitigation by a debris flow barrier

Abstract

This paper presents debris mobility analysis results for a slit type debris flow barrier and the effect of its design parameters on the barrier’s performance. Numerical simulation of various cases was performed using CFD program FLOW-3D with different heights and slit ratios of barrier. The result shows reasonably correlated relationships between the barrier’s design parameters and energy mitigation by the barrier, which can contribute to an optimum design of the debris flow barrier.