Dimensional analysis of a flume design for laboratory debris flow simulation

Dimensional analysis for a flume design for laboratory debris flow simulation was proposed. Four geometric scaling factors and three constitutive scaling parameters were used to scale down the Tsing Shan debris flow event occurred on Sept. 11, 1990 in Hong Kong. In this paper, we focus on the effect of granular contents on the shape of debris fan and the maximum runout distance of debris flow. The configuration of debris fan and the velocity of debris flow surge were experimentally studied. Experimental results show that debris material with a richer sand content (60% sand and 40% gravel by weight) gives a longer runout compared to the debris material with (50% sand and 47% gravel by weight).