Amplification of flood discharge caused by the cascading failure of landslide dams

The cascading failure of multiple landslide dams can trigger a larger peak flood discharge than that caused by a single dam failure. Therefore, for an accurate numerical simulation, it is essential to elucidate the primary factors affecting the peak discharge of the flood caused by a cascading failure, which is the purpose of the current study. First, flume experiments were done on the cascading failure of two landslide dams under different upstream dam heights, downstream dam heights, and initial downstream reservoir water volumes. Then, the experimental results were reproduced using a numerical simulation model representing landslide dam erosion resulting from overtopping flow. Finally, the factors influencing the peak flood discharge caused by the cascading failure were analyzed using the numerical simulation model. Experimental results indicated that the inflow discharge into the downstream dam at the time when the downstream dam height began to rapidly erode was the main factor responsible for a cascading failure generating a larger peak flood discharge than that generated by a single dam failure.Furthermore, the results of a sensitivity analysis suggested that the upstream and downstream dam heights, initial water volume in the reservoir of the downstream dam, upstream and downstream dam crest lengths, and distance between two dams were among the most important factors in predicting the flood discharge caused by the cascading failure of multiple landslide dams.