Abstract
Tsunamis are rare, extreme events and cause significant damage to coastal infrastructure, which is often exacerbated by soil instability surrounding the structures. Simulating tsunamis in a laboratory setting is important to further understand soil instability induced by tsunami inundation processes. Laboratory simulations are difficult because the scale of such processes is very large, hence dynamic similitude cannot be achieved for small-scale models in traditional water-wave-tank facilities. The ability to control the body force in a centrifuge environment considerably reduces the mismatch in dynamic similitude. We review dynamic similitudes under a centrifuge condition for a fluid domain and a soil domain. A novel centrifuge apparatus specifically designed for exploring the physics of a tsunami-like flow on a soil bed is used to perform experiments. The present 1:40 model represents the equivalent geometric scale of a prototype soil field of 9.6 m deep, 21 m long, and 14.6 m wide. A laboratory facility capable of creating such conditions under the normal gravitational condition does not exist. With the use of a centrifuge, we are now able to simulate and measure tsunami-like loading with sufficiently high water pressure and flow velocities. The pressures and flow velocities in the model are identical to those of the prototype yielding realistic conditions of flow-soil interaction.
Highlights
Fast surging flows on land accompanied by tsunami inundation affect the underlying soil medium and can result in severe scour or potentially liquefaction[1,2]
Additional scaling relationships are necessary in a scaled-down model when soil is involved to achieve the dynamic similitude in the soil domain
The body force within a centrifuge model is increased by controlling the centripetal acceleration on the model, which is the primary advantage of using a centrifuge apparatus to investigate soil response
Summary
Fast surging flows on land accompanied by tsunami inundation affect the underlying soil medium and can result in severe scour or potentially liquefaction[1,2]. Understanding soil response during tsunami inundation is difficult using traditional water-wave tanks owing to unavoidable scale effects. We use a novel laboratory apparatus designed to be operated on a large centrifuge, which controls the body force of the model. The apparatus enables the exploration of soil response to the tsunami-like inundation flows associated with both the flooding and drawdown processes. Tsunamis’ spatiotemporal scales are the reason that scaled-down laboratory experiments to study tsunami effects are difficult. To reduce the excessive scale effects, we use a novel laboratory apparatus on a centrifuge. Sassa and Sekiguchi[4] studied soil response under progressive water-wave action using centrifuge modeling. Because the model experiences centrifugal forces created with a finite radius of rotation, the Coriolis effect could influence the experimental results
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