ER2 Chong Peng

Research project description

 

Probabilistic analysis of slope failure and debris flow considering the variability of material properties

Fellow:              Chong Peng

Institution:         Department of Civil Engineering and Natrual Hazars, University of Natrual Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), Vienna

Supervisor:       Univ. Prof. Dr. Ing. Wei Wu

Landslide and debris flow are common natural hazards occurring all over the world, especially in mountain areas, and lead to a loss of human lives and property larger than any other natural hazards.

In most of the cases, landslides and debris flow are triggered by earthquakes and heavy rains. The risk assessment is the premise of protection and prevention system, thus the probability of slope failure and debris flow is needed.

Internal conditions, mainly material properties, play an important role in slope failure and debris flow. The objective of this study is analyzing the possibility of landslide and debris flow with numerical simulation, considering the variation of material properties.

Recent years numerical methods and advanced constitutive models for landslide and debris flow are in rapid development. In this study, newly developed FPEM and SPH are adopted. First an integrated method will be used to simulate the real case landslide and debris flow, the result will be compared with works from other packages. Once the capability of the integrated method is verified, the probabilistic analysis considering the variability of material properties in field will be performed.

The simulation of a simple debris flow using non-Newtonian fluid model was performed with PFEM, which is a part of multi-physics software Kratos. Future work will be in cooperation with MUMOLADE fellow Pablo Becker (ESR11) in numerical method development, Xiaogang Guo (ESR2) in constitutive model and Miguel Cabrera (ESR14) in case study.

 

Figure 1. Simulation of non-Newtonian flow with PFEM