Debris flow on prismatic open channel.

Abstract

Reviews on the yield strength and viscosity of the interstitial clay slurry in debris flow prove that ordinary debris flow may be modeled as a dilatant fluid in which the intergranular forces dominate. Theoretical velocity distributions in dilatant fluid compare well with the experimental results when the value of a numerical constant is appropriately selected. The longitudinal profile of the lobate snout is satisfactorily analyzed by applying the theory of one-dimensional translation wave on an open channel, where the resistance coefficient is a function of concentration, depth, and grain diameter. A remarkable segregation of particles, in which the larger ones move upwards, occurs in debris flow due to the effects of collisions of particles. The accumulation of boulders in the front part of debris flow is a result of the faster transportation of the larger particles in the upper layer of the flow than that of the smaller ones in the lower layer. -from ASCE Publications Abstracts