Snow avalanche friction relation based on extended kinetic theory
Rheological models for granular materials play an important role in the numerical simulation of dry dense snow avalanches. This article describes the application of a physically based model from the field of kinetic theory to snow avalanche simulations. The fundamental structure of the so-called...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2016-11-01
|
| Series: | Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences |
| Online Access: | https://www.nat-hazards-earth-syst-sci.net/16/2325/2016/nhess-16-2325-2016.pdf |
| Summary: | Rheological models for granular materials play an important role in the
numerical simulation of dry dense snow avalanches. This article describes the
application of a physically based model from the field of kinetic theory to
snow avalanche simulations. The fundamental structure of the so-called
extended kinetic theory is outlined and the decisive model behavior for
avalanches is identified. A simplified relation, covering the basic features
of the extended kinetic theory, is developed and implemented into an
operational avalanche simulation software. To test the obtained friction
relation, simulation results are compared to velocity and runout observations
of avalanches, recorded from different field tests. As reference we utilize a
classic phenomenological friction relation, which is commonly applied for
hazard estimation. The quantitative comparison is based on the combination of
normalized residuals of different observation variables in order to take into
account the quality of the simulations in various regards. It is demonstrated
that the extended kinetic theory provides a physically based explanation for
the structure of phenomenological friction relations. The friction relation
derived with the help of the extended kinetic theory shows advantages to the
classic phenomenological friction, in particular when different events and
various observation variables are investigated. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 1561-8633 1684-9981 |