Numerical simulation of debris flow with application on hazard area mapping

A numerical program developed for field application is presented in this paper. We use the generalized Julien and Lan [8] rheological model to simulate debris flows. Due to the derivative discontinuous nature of the constitutive law, flow is separated into plug region and bottom region (with stress greater than yield stress). The program solves the plug flow layer solution first, and then corrects the solution with the bottom layer approximation. Numerical scheme with upwind method and central difference in space and Adam–Bashforth third-order scheme in time is used for both layers. The scheme is tested against analytical solutions and laboratory experiments with very good results. Application to a field case with more complicated geometry also achieves good agreement, with error less than 5% compared to field measurements. The final example demonstrates how this numerical program is used in a preliminary design.