Numerical Simulation of the Mass Movement Process of the 2018 Sedongpu Glacial Debris Flow by Using the Fluid-Solid Coupling Method

Abstract

In the context of global warming and intensified human activities, glacier instability in plateau regions has increased, and glacier debris flows have become active, which poses a significant threat to the lives and property of people and socioeconomic development. The mass movement process of glacier debris flows is extremely complex, so this paper uses the 2018 Sedongpu glacier debris flow event on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau as an example and applies a numerical simulation method to invert the whole process of mass movement. In view of the interaction between phases in the process of motion, we use the fluid-solid coupling method to describe the mass movement. The granular-flow model and drift-flux model are employed in FLOW3D software to study the mass movement process of glacier debris flows and explore their dynamic characteristics. The results indicate that the glacier debris flow lasted for 700 s, and the movement process was roughly divided into four stages, including initiation, scraping, surging and deposition; the depositional characteristics calculated by the fluid-solid coupling model are consistent with the actual survey results and have good reliability; strong erosion occurs during the mass movement, the clear volume amplification effect, and the first wave climbs 17.8 m across the slope. The fluid-solid coupling method can better simulate glacier debris flows in plateau regions, which is helpful for the study of the mechanism and dynamic characteristics of such disasters.

Keywords

glacial debris flow / Qinghai-Tibet Plateau / fluid-solid coupling / FLOW3D / mass movement / depositional characteristics / disasters / engineering geology

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