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Large debris flows: A macro-viscous phenomenon

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Summary

Field observations from a variety of sources suggest that destructive debris flows occur when the density of the fluid-solid mixture exceeds about 1.5 T/m3, and that their destructive ability is due to their pulsing nature and to their ability to carry large boulders.

If debris flows are treated as a macroviscous flow of large stones in a slurry of fine solids in water, several of their obvious characteristics (boulder transport, deep bed erosion, intermittent jamming) can be explained. Further, the amplification and translation in a main channel of random surges due to jamming in tributaries explains the regular, large pulses in Chinese debris flows as a roll-wave phenomenon.

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  1. T. R. H. Davies

    Present address: E.A.f.V., CH-8903, Birmensdorf, Switzerland

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  1. Department of Agricultural Engineering, Lincoln College, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand

    T. R. H. Davies

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Davies, T.R.H. Large debris flows: A macro-viscous phenomenon. Acta Mechanica 63, 161–178 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01182546

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