Preprint Article Version 2 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

The Development of a 1-D Integrated Hydro-Mechanical Model Based on Flume Tests, to Unravel Different Hydrological Triggering Processes of Debris Flows

Version 1 : Received: 4 January 2018 / Approved: 5 January 2018 / Online: 5 January 2018 (07:54:11 CET)
Version 2 : Received: 11 June 2018 / Approved: 13 June 2018 / Online: 13 June 2018 (08:37:32 CEST)

A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.

van Asch, T.W.J.; Yu, B.; Hu, W. The Development of a 1-D Integrated Hydro-Mechanical Model Based on Flume Tests to Unravel Different Hydrological Triggering Processes of Debris Flows. Water 2018, 10, 950. van Asch, T.W.J.; Yu, B.; Hu, W. The Development of a 1-D Integrated Hydro-Mechanical Model Based on Flume Tests to Unravel Different Hydrological Triggering Processes of Debris Flows. Water 2018, 10, 950.

Abstract

Many studies, which try to analyze conditions for debris flow development, ignore the type of initiation. Therefore this paper deals with the following questions: What type of hydro-mechanical triggering mechanisms for debris flows can we distinguish in upstream channels of debris flow prone gullies? Which are the main parameters controlling the type and temporal sequence of these triggering processes and what is their influence on the meteorological thresholds for debris flow initiation? A series of laboratory experiments were carried out in a flume, 8 m long and with a width of 0.3 m. to detect the conditions for different types of triggering mechanisms. The flume experiments show a sequence of hydrological processes triggering debris flows, namely erosion and transport by intensive overland flow and by infiltrating water causing failure of channel bed material. On the basis of these experiments an integrated hydro-mechanical model was developed, which describes Hortonian and Saturation overland flow, maximum sediment transport, through flow and failure of bed material. The model was calibrated and validated using process indicator values measured during the experiments in the flume. Virtual model simulations, carried out in a schematic hypothetical source area of a catchment show that slope angle and hydraulic conductivity of the bed material determine the type and sequence of these triggering processes. It was also clearly demonstrated that the type of hydrological triggering process and the influencing geometrical and hydro-mechanical parameters may have a great influence on rainfall intensity-duration threshold curves for the start of debris flows.

Keywords

triggering of debris flows; overland flow; infiltration; laboratory experiments; modelling; rain intensity-duration threshold curves

Subject

Environmental and Earth Sciences, Environmental Science

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