Experimental Study on Landslide Dam Break Due to Overtopping

Landslide dam is a great threat to the security and well being of downstream property and people. Investigating the dam break mechanism and providing an effective forecast of the peak discharge are critical for the response of a landslide dam. A series of experiments were conducted to investigate flood flow generated by overtopping induced failure of landslide dams. These experiments were to quantify the influences of dam shape including downstream slope, width of dam crest and dam height on the downstream flood flow. Results showed that the water level in the upstream reservoir and the erosion of dam body are dominant factors for downstream flood flow. A physical-based model for calculating the arriving time and peak discharge of dam break flow are established and tested using several laboratory experimental datasets. The agreements between calculated and measured data showed the applicability of the proposed model for predicting the peak discharge of dam break flow.