Failure Evaluation of Brick Walls Subjected to Hydrostatic and Hydrodynamic Forces Brought on Through Flash Floods

Abstract

Flood risk assessments influence urban and land use planning, which presents a significant research problem. Although quantitative risk and hazard modelling techniques exist, trustworthy, logical vulnerability assessment methodologies still need improvement. This is especially valid when evaluating buildings' susceptibility to flooding. This vulnerability is typically conceptualized using empirical data and is significant for communities' and individuals' safety and economic reasons. However, these empirical methods are fraught with considerable uncertainties, primarily due to the inadequate representation of the damage-causing mechanisms on the building envelope. This research aims to further this field by examining the structural vulnerability of traditional brick buildings in flash-flooded alpine settings. A conceptual model with a reduced physical basis that only needs a small amount of input data is suggested using a limit analysis framework; the resistance of a wall affected by a flash flood is examined while taking various geometric ratios and building layouts into account. The stability thresholds stated in the results of numerical finite element models of the studied geometries were positively compared with the dimensionless form as a function of the water depth. When the suggested vulnerability model is used in risk mitigation measures, accurate data appropriate for a preliminary risk assessment of extensive building stocks is produced.