Dynamic impact of debris avalanches on structures

Flow-like landslides are largely studied because they cause damage to the structures and loss of life. In particular, debris avalanches propagate quickly along slopes for hundred meters. This work deals with the dynamic impact of debris avalanches against civil structures. The analyses are carried out through a numerical code implementing the Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamic (SPH) method that has reasonable computational time for the accurate evaluation of kinematical features of the debris avalanches such as heights, velocities and pore water pressures during the propagation stage. The dynamic impact is evaluated for different scenarios of landslides differently triggered inside the source areas. Distinct literature formulations are used to evaluate the impact pressure and its time variation. The numerical results outline the ranges of potential impact pressures on civil structures the threated to be impacted by a debris avalanche. A comparison is also made with critical values of impact pressures recorded in a similar context, and it is outlined the potential damage from such impact scenarios for the existing structures.