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3D simulation of Vajont disaster. Part 2: Multi-failure scenarios
Abstract Prediction of multi-hazard slope stability events requires an informed and judicious choice of the possible scenarios. An incorrect definition of landslide conditions in terms of expected failure volume, material behavior, or boundary conditions can lead to inaccurate predictions and, in turn, to wrong engineering and risk management decisions. Reduced-scale experiments carried out two years before the Vajont disaster were carried out with a material not representative of the actual rockslide behavior and failed in not considering the simultaneous failure of the whole landslide body. Based on these inappropriate assumptions, the physical models led to wrong estimates of the safety operational level for the Vajont reservoir. This work uses the Particle Finite Element Method (PFEM) to analyze the implications of the wrong hypotheses considered in the pre-event experiments, simulating numerically the Vajont disaster for different sliding volumes and material properties. The use of the PFEM for the accurate assessment of the consequences of landslides impinging in water reservoirs has been already validated in a companion paper. In this work, we demonstrate the capabilities of a robust and reliable numerical modeling approach for the simulation of different scenarios, assessing what could have been a safe operational reservoir level in the case of a landslide generated impulse wave. The three-dimensional analyses were run with a high mesh resolution and demonstrate the suitability and robustness of the PFEM model for large-scale landslide and multi-hazard events simulation.
Highlights Application of a Lagrangian numerical method to the 3D simulation of Vajont landslide; Analysis of the different multi-failure scenarios considered in the physical tests performed before the disaster; Analysis of Vajont disaster for different initial water levels in the reservoir; Comparison and discussion of the results given by the different configurations analyzed.
3D simulation of Vajont disaster. Part 2: Multi-failure scenarios
Abstract Prediction of multi-hazard slope stability events requires an informed and judicious choice of the possible scenarios. An incorrect definition of landslide conditions in terms of expected failure volume, material behavior, or boundary conditions can lead to inaccurate predictions and, in turn, to wrong engineering and risk management decisions. Reduced-scale experiments carried out two years before the Vajont disaster were carried out with a material not representative of the actual rockslide behavior and failed in not considering the simultaneous failure of the whole landslide body. Based on these inappropriate assumptions, the physical models led to wrong estimates of the safety operational level for the Vajont reservoir. This work uses the Particle Finite Element Method (PFEM) to analyze the implications of the wrong hypotheses considered in the pre-event experiments, simulating numerically the Vajont disaster for different sliding volumes and material properties. The use of the PFEM for the accurate assessment of the consequences of landslides impinging in water reservoirs has been already validated in a companion paper. In this work, we demonstrate the capabilities of a robust and reliable numerical modeling approach for the simulation of different scenarios, assessing what could have been a safe operational reservoir level in the case of a landslide generated impulse wave. The three-dimensional analyses were run with a high mesh resolution and demonstrate the suitability and robustness of the PFEM model for large-scale landslide and multi-hazard events simulation.
Highlights Application of a Lagrangian numerical method to the 3D simulation of Vajont landslide; Analysis of the different multi-failure scenarios considered in the physical tests performed before the disaster; Analysis of Vajont disaster for different initial water levels in the reservoir; Comparison and discussion of the results given by the different configurations analyzed.
3D simulation of Vajont disaster. Part 2: Multi-failure scenarios
Franci, Alessandro (author) / Cremonesi, Massimiliano (author) / Perego, Umberto (author) / Oñate, Eugenio (author) / Crosta, Giovanni (author)
Engineering Geology ; 279
2020-10-03
Article (Journal)
Electronic Resource
English
The Vajont reservoir slope failure
| Elsevier | 1986
Elsevier | 1987
| Elsevier | 1986
Vajont Disaster: Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics Modeling of the Postevent 2D Experiments
| Online Contents | 2016