Abstract
Debris loads during flood events have been well-documented by forensic engineering field surveys of affected communities. Research has primarily focused on debris impact loading and less emphasis has been placed into quantifying the loads and effects associated with debris damming, which occurs when solid objects accumulate at the front of structures. The formation of the debris dam has been shown to results in increased drag forces, backwater rise, and flow accelerations which can influence the stability of the structure. This study examined the formation of a debris dam in steady-state conditions of debris common to flood-prone communities. The study determined that the hydraulic conditions, in particular flow velocity, influenced the formation of the debris dam. Additionally, the study examined the influence of the blockage ratio on the backwater rise as well as the drag coefficient.
Highlights
Despite recent large-scale coastal flooding events, such as the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, the 2005Hurricane Katrina, and the 2013 Typhoon Haiyan, urban intensification of coastal regions has continued unabated [1,2]
This study examines the influence of the debris properties, such as the volume of debris supplied to the dam and the properties of the dam, on debris damming loads at a generalized structure
Steady-state flow conditions were selected for the investigation of debris damming loads and effects due to the relatively long duration needed for the formation of an equilibrium debris dam condition [25]
Summary
Despite recent large-scale coastal flooding events, such as the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, the 2005Hurricane Katrina, and the 2013 Typhoon Haiyan, urban intensification of coastal regions has continued unabated [1,2]. Despite recent large-scale coastal flooding events, such as the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, the 2005. There has been a focus on the development of comprehensive approaches for improving the preparedness, response, recovery, mitigation and protection of coastal communities for such extreme events [4]. One of the major problems when designing coastal protection infrastructure is the analysis of the loads and effects associated with these flooding events. Oftentimes, this includes research groups converging on the disaster-stricken coastal communities to measure and assess the damage and failure of the affected infrastructure. Forensic post-flooding field surveys, such as those of Ghobarah et al [5]
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