Characteristics of a drainage channel with staggered indented sills for controlling debris flows

Abstract

The characteristics of a new type of drainage channel with staggered indented sills for controlling debris flows were studied. The intermediate fluid in the non-viscous debris flow exhibited a helical movement, whereas the fluid near the sidewall had a stop-start movement pattern; the viscous debris flow exhibited a stable structure between the indented sills. The experimental results indicate that the mean velocity of the debris flow increased with increasing channel gradients, and the debris flow velocity was slightly affected by the angle of the sills. The average velocity of the non-viscous debris flow increased in the range of (0.5-1.5) interval between the indented sills, whereas the average velocity of the viscous debris flow increased initially and then decreased in the range of (0.75-1.25) interval between the indented sills. The depth of the non-viscous debris flow tended to gradually increase as the channel gradients increased, whereas the depth of the viscous debris flow gradually decreased as the channel gradients increased. When the discharge of the debris flow was constant, the angle and the interval between the indented sills had a slight effect on the depth of the viscous debris flow, whereas the depth of the non-viscous debris flow exhibited a different trend, as the sill angles and intervals were varied.