Laboratory Granular Flows generated by Slope Failures

Summary. A series of flume experiments has been set up to analyze the behavior of water sand mixture flows, as a consequence of slope failures induced by water table raising and rainfall. The flows initially accelerated but at a certain stage of the process, unsteady deposition of the sand occurred, preceded by the transformation of the movement from flow to sliding. The comparison of such phenomena with other flume experiments, performed in similar conditions, showed that differences in flow behavior are dependent on a variety of aspects that are difficult to take into account. A numerical modeling of laboratory flows has been performed, using a cellular automata model based on the grain inertia regime. Despite the relatively good agreement between modeled and experimental phenomena, the study shows the difficulties of taking the actual behavior of granular flows into account. Author’s address: Chiara Deangeli, Politecnico di Torino, Ditag, corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy