Real-scale test design of a sand flowslide by MPM slope (in)stability analysis

Description

During a flowslide a large amount of granular material moves within seconds or gradually over hours. The ability to predict flowslides is an important asset for the design, construction, maintenance and safety assessment of submerged slopes; even more so in view of intensifying land use and the impact of sea level change on low-lying coastal areas worldwide. However, these phenomena are not yet well understood. Submerged flowslides take place in a variety of different settings, including planes as low as 1 degree and can cause significant damage to both life and property. Despite the variety of different movements present in submerged environment, only slides, debris flow and turbidity currents provide a substantial contribution to gravity driven sediment transport Locat et al (2002). Flowslides are considered highly complex (multi-phase, multi-physics and multi-scale) and the use of numerical methods for the solution of these problems plays a key role for the optimization and the design of many projects.
An integrated numerical solution for the simulation of flowslides from initiation to deposition of sediments, is proposed using the Anura3D MPM software. As validation case study, a sand quarry below ground water level in Belgium was chosen. Here is an overview of the analysis for instabilities in submerged sand slopes which can result in failure triggered by the rapid extraction of sand from the toe of the slope providing insight and knowledge about the causes of flowslides for site specific applications.

Period	2 Oct 2017 → 6 Oct 2017
Event title	ALERT Poster Session 2017
Event type	Other
Location	Aussois, FranceShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International