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- Title
Interaction of retarding structures with simulated avalanches in snow chute.
- Authors
Sheikh, Ansar Hamid; Verma, Satish Chandra; Kumar, Amod
- Abstract
A series of experiments were conducted in a 61-m long snow chute to investigate the interaction of the flowing snow mass with obstacles (friction blocks) of different geometries. The flows generated are approximated as avalanche-like flows as they show typical features such as a steady velocity along the track, longitudinal spreading and almost fluidized flowing characteristics, despite the smooth chute surface. In this study, we report a series of experiments on model control structures in the form of mounds and a blunt body of similar projection area which are of a comparable height to the flow depth. The retarding effects were investigated by a direct measurement of the velocity of flow at various sections using CCD cameras, its runout length and location of centre of mass of the final debris deposited. The experiments show that the avalanche currents generated in the snow chute detach from the top of the obstacles in the form of a jet and a granular jump is created, which results in a sufficient dissipation of the energy and a possibility of a shock wave travelling in the upstream direction. It was observed that mounds with height more than two times the flow depth, can lead to a significant reduction in the runout length. However, at low flow depths the effectiveness of the blunt body is more because the avalanching snow splits into different segments and the flow profile is close to the bed slope. On the contrary, when the flow depth is of the same order of magnitude as the obstacle height, the mound becomes more effective as the flow detaches from the top of the blunt body and travels a much larger distance at high velocity, while as in case of mounds a jet is formed both in horizontal and vertical directions, and travels a comparatively less distance. The study of the jet traverse in the vertical direction becomes useful in determining the effective distance between rows of retarding structures.
- Subjects
ENERGY dissipation; HUMAN settlements; AVALANCHE control; FLUIDIZATION; HAZARD mitigation; SCIENTIFIC method
- Publication
Current Science (00113891), 2008, Vol 94, Issue 7, p916
- ISSN
0011-3891
- Publication type
Article