Open Access

ARTICLE

Uncertainty Analysis for a Particle Model of Granular Chute Flow

by F. Fleissner¹, T. Haag², M. Hanss², P. Eberhard¹

1 Institute of Engineering and Computational Mechanics, University of Stuttgart, Germany.
2 Institute of Applied and Experimental Mechanics, University of Stuttgart, Germany.

Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences 2009, 52(2), 181-196. https://doi.org/10.3970/cmes.2009.052.181

Abstract

In alpine regions human settlements and infrastructure are at risk to be hit by landslides or other types of geological flows. This paper presents a new approach that can aid the design of protective constructions. An uncertainty analysis of the flow around a debris barrier is carried out using a chute flow laboratory model of the actual debris flow. A series of discrete element simulations thereby serves to compare and assess two different barrier designs. In this study, the transformation method of fuzzy arithmetic is used to investigate the influence of epistemically uncertain model parameters. It turns out that parameter and modeling uncertainties can have a tremendous influence on the predicted efficiency of protective structures.

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