Coupled 3D numerical model for a landslide-induced impulse water wave: A case study of the Fuquan landslide

Abstract

Large impulse waves are generated when a highly mobilized landslide impacts a water body along the runout path. On August 27, 2014, a massive landslide occurred in Fuquan, Guizhou, China and induced an impulse wave upon contact with a quarry lake. The landslide and its associated impulse wave were a multiphase and multicomponent mixture that collectively destroyed two villages. The present study provides insights into multiphase dynamic analysis by employing an existing 3D coupled discrete element modeling and computational fluid dynamics approach to model a case study of the Fuquan landslide and its impulse wave. EDEM and Fluent were two-way coupled by an application programming interface, which transferred data between the models to simulate subaerial movement and impulse wave generation. The simulated results indicate a maximum velocity of 31.7 m/s achieved by the subaerial movement and a runout duration of 39 s. The detached mass entered the quarry lake at a velocity of 24.3 m/s, at t = 7.1 s after the landslide initiation. Energy was transferred between the sliding mass and lake water, and the generated water wave rushed toward the opposite slope. The generated wave had a run-up of 28.4 m and traveled approximately 90 m in the lateral direction, with a maximum dynamic pressure of 3.03 MPa. Qualitative validation of the present model was performed using Fritz's experimental setup for wave generation, and the velocity evolution was physically verified. This study provides calibrated parameters for the forward simulation of similar cases of landslide-induced impulse water waves and related hazard zonation.