Effect of slit-type barrier on characteristics of water-dominant debris flows: small-scale physical modeling

Abstract

Slit-type barriers, one of open-type barriers, are widely used as active measures to mitigate potential risk and damage by debris flows, and those are designed and installed to reduce the flow energy by only passing relatively small debris. However, the mechanisms of slit-type barriers in reducing the debris flow velocity and debris volume remain poorly understood because of the lack of well-controlled and reliable physical modeling results. This study explored the influence of various arrangements of slit-type barriers, including P-type barriers in which each rectangular barrier was placed in parallel and V-type barriers where the barriers were placed in a V-shape, on characteristics of water-dominant debris flows via small-scale model experiments. The debris flow events were reproduced against the slit-type barriers, where the velocity reduction and trap ratio were monitored, varying the angle and shape of barrier arrangements. The velocity reduction and trap ratio appeared to increase as the angle of the barrier wall decreased because of the decreased opening ratio. The V-type barriers resulted in higher velocity reduction and trap ratio than the P-type, primarily because of the smaller effective opening ratio and the more backwater effect. In addition, as the debris contained more boulders, the extent of velocity reduction and debris trap became greater in all barrier types. Two types of opening ratios, the projected and effective opening ratios, were correlated to the interactions between debris and walls. The obtained results provide baseline data for the optimum design of slit-type barriers against debris flow and suggest that the slit-type barriers can effectively manage the risk of damage by debris flows.