Effect of lateral confinement on wave generation and attenuation induced by granular debris

ABSTRACT

The lateral confinement effect significantly influences wave amplitude at the generation and propagation stage. A series of physical experiments and numerical simulations considering different parameters was conducted to study the effect of lateral confinement on waves, and the enlargement percentage from lateral confinement on the maximum wave amplitude has been estimated and validated. Results indicate that sliding mass is the most significant factor influencing the wave amplitude on wave generation, with an average influence ratio of 19.0%, and there is a lower influence ratio of 12.3% for particle size parameter. The enlargement percentage induced by lateral confinement decreases from 55.0% to 31.1% on wave generation location as the slide Froude number increases. On the location of wave propagation, the enlargement percentage increases as the slide Froude number increases, ranging from 17.4% to 47.7%. Equations of the enlargement percentage are presented in this study to align the maximum wave amplitude when physical experiments are influenced by lateral confinement.

Keywords:

• Lateral confinement
• landslide-generated wave
• numerical simulation
• physical modelling test
• wave amplitude
• wave attenuation

Acknowledgements

Critical comments by the anonymous reviewers greatly improved the initial manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This study was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [U2240221 and 41977229] and the Sichuan Province Youth Science and Technology Innovation Team [2020JDTD0006].