Modeling of landslide generated waves in Three Gorges Reservoir, China using SPH method

Abstract

To investigate the wave characteristics generated by subaerial landside in Three Gorges Reservoir, China, a large laboratory physical experiment was conducted. Specially, the channel of Baishuihe landslide in the reservoir was selected as prototype and reproduced with scale of 1:200 under the similarity conditions. A series of test with different collocation of parameters were performed. Empirical equations were derived by the means of dimensionless analysis and multiple nonlinear regression. The proposed equations were then used to quickly predict the wave features (maximum wave amplitude, runup, and wave attenuation) of Gongjiafang landslide in the Wu Gorge. Numerical simulation of waves generated by Gongjiafang landslide was carried out using DualSphysics which is a SPH method based application. Comparison between the wave features derived from the numerical simulation and the prediction equations was looked insight. Results show better agreements of both methods either in maximum wave amplitude and runup. In Addition, wave characteristics (wave length, velocity and period) were well analyzed using the wave gauges' data in the numerical simulation. It can be concluded that the modeling work using SPH method should be well adopted in investigating the problems of landslide generated waves in detail, while the equations derived from the experiment enable a quick basis in the prediction of the main wave features. Combination of both methods will be an excellent way in analyzing the practical case and thus provides significant means for hazard assessment and prevention.