1. Introduction

Dams are usually designed to stop dense avalanches up to a certain volume. Above this volume, they act by retarding and stopping the flow of the avalanche. This paper focuses on that particular phase. A direct assessment of the efficiency of defence structures is obtained by quantifying momentum and mass reductions and the resulting consequences in terms of pressure and run-out distance. In the powder-snow avalanche case, the main effects are momentum reduction and ambient-fluid entrainment. The momentum is reduced through a retarding force upstream of the dam and when the jet collides with the ground down-stream of the dam. Entrainment of air during the jet reduces its velocity since the mass increases. These effects are responsible for the avalanche pressure reduction. In the case of dense flows, momentum reduction generated by the upstream retarding force and by the collision of the jet with the ground is combined with mass reduction due to deposition upstream of the dam. These two processes contribute to the shortening of the avalanche run-out.

The momentum reduction results from three different phases: (i) flow–obstacle impact and deflection upstream of the dam, (ii) jet and ambient fluid entrainment, and (iii) jet impact on the ground downstream of the dam. Many previous works have evaluated the contribution of the first phase, but the contributions of the two last phases have often been neglected. This paper attempts to summarize, re-examine and improve the existing results on the first phase and to quantify the contributions of the second phase by studying the airborne jet and its interaction with the ambient fluid in terms of entrainment and friction for both avalanche types.

The following two sections summarize, re-examine and improve recent results on avalanche interactions with a dam. Section 4 is devoted to the analysis of the flow of the airborne jet downstream of the obstacle.

2. Powder-Snow Avalanches

In the past, several attempts have been made to simulate a powder avalanche. It is possible to distinguish three different approaches: (i) Reference Hopfinger and Tochon-DanguyHopfinger and Tochon-Danguy (1977) and Reference Beghin and OlagneBeghin and Olagne (1991) mainly employed density currents; (ii) Reference Hermann and HutterHermann and Hutter (1991) simulated powder-snow avalanches by a turbulent suspension flow of polystyrene particles in water; (iii) Reference Bozhinskiy and SukhanovBozhinskiy and Sukhanov (1998) modelled a dense avalanche with dry powder materials in air and studied the formation of the powder cloud, while Reference McElwaine and NishimuraMcElwaine and Nishimura (2001) simulated collisional avalanche flows and their interaction with air using ping-pong ball experiments. In our experiments (Reference Naaim-Bouvet, Naaim, Bacher and HeiligensteinNaaim-Bouvet and others, 2002) using the gravity-current concept, the avalanche consisted of a heavy fluid (kaolin particles suspended in salt water) dispersing in a lighter one (water). When the Reynolds number is sufficiently high (inertial phase), dynamic similarity is respected if the densimetric Froude number and the density ratio are equal in nature and in the laboratory. U is the downslope velocity, H is the flow height, ρ is the density of the mixture and ρ_a is the density of the ambient fluid. Satisfying Froude-number and density-ratio similarities in the laboratory means that a very high velocity is necessary, which calls for considerable channel dimensions. With water as ambient fluid, it is not possible to satisfy the density-ratio similarity, but the effects of a distortion in the density ratio on the flow variables have been studied using a numerical model in Reference Hermann, Issler and KellerHermann and others (1995) and Reference NaaimNaaim and others (2003). For a high initial density ratio, a strong effect is observed mainly during the acceleration phase (rapid growth in size and velocity). When the flow is fully developed, the densimetric Froude similarity is approximately valid.

Only a few experiments have been attempted using physical modelling of the interaction between a gravity current and obstacles. A first attempt was made by Reference Hopfinger and Tochon-DanguyHopfinger and Tochon-Danguy (1977). Later, a series of experiments studying unsteady gravity current flows over deflecting and catching dams was conducted by Reference Beghin and ClosetBeghin and Closet (1990) and Reference Augé, Ousset and MarcoAugé and others (1995). The dynamic pressure was estimated from the front velocity, which was the only measured parameter. Experiments similar to those of Reference Beghin and ClosetBeghin and Closet (1990) have been carried out using Doppler ultrasonic velocimetry in order to measure the velocity inside the flow (Reference Keller and IsslerKeller and Issler, 1996; Reference Naaim-Bouvet, Naaim, Bacher and HeiligensteinNaaim-Bouvet and others, 2002).

The experimental set-up used in Reference Naaim-Bouvet, Naaim, Bacher and HeiligensteinNaaim-Bouvet and others, 2002 consisted of a 4 m × 2m × 4.5m water tank with glass walls. Buoyant clouds flowed along an inclined channel from a small immersed tank (0.20m length, 0.15 m width, 4610^–3m³ volume) with a release gate. The inertial phase (high velocity and turbulence) of powder avalanches was simulated by a heavy suspension (salt water and kaolin), which was dispersed into a lighter one. The density of the heavy suspension was 1200 kgm^–3. The simulated avalanche was more a puff of non-continuous injected density than a current of heavy fluid: a finite volume of heavy suspension was released instantaneously from the small immersed tank. The avalanche track was confined to a channel (length 285 cm, width 15 cm, height 50 cm). The experiments were carried out with and without an obstacle which was set up 97 cm from the gate, perpendicular both to the bottom plane and to the channel axis. This obstacle, with a height up to 8 cm, obstructed the channel. Runs were made along a constant slope angle of 10. The initial volume in the release tank was 2610^–3m³ for each trial. The experiments were quasi-two-dimensional. We determined experimentally that the highly turbulent nature of the avalanches required an average over five identical experiments. Two cameras were used (top and side views) to obtain the height, length, width and shape of the flow, together with the front velocity. An array of two transducers coupled with the expanded ultrasonic unit was used to measure the component of the particle velocity vector in the direction of the transducer.Two directions (x direction and y direction) were investigated. For the reference avalanche without obstacle, the “horizontal” velocity (in the x direction, i.e. parallel to the slope) inside the avalanche head was about 1.5 times the front velocity. This supports Reference Hopfinger and Tochon-DanguyHopfinger and Tochon-Dan-guy’s (1977) results. The ratio U_max/U_front was greater than 1 in the lower part (y50.5H) of the flowing avalanche. U_max is the maximum“horizontal”velocity in time at a fixed space point, and U_front is the front velocity measured at the same space point. New and interesting results were obtained for the “vertical” velocity (in the y direction, i.e. normal to the slope), which rose to 74% of the front velocity in a very short period.

The flow overran obstacles: the dam caused an acceleration of the flow above it and then a vortex appeared. This vortex acquired its circulation from the impulse due to the acceleration above the dam. As reported in Reference Naaim-Bouvet, Naaim, Bacher and HeiligensteinNaaim-Bouvet and others, 2002, the reduction in front velocity due to the presence of a dam was an increasing function of the dam height 47 cm downstream of the dam (Fig. 1). The ratio U_max/U_front was an increasing function of the dam height and reached a maximum value of 1.9 (Fig. 2). Consequently, the front velocity was not relevant in determining the effectiveness of dams. The obstacle led to a velocity reduction downstream of the vortex zone.

Fig. 1.

Experimental values of U_front/U_frontref as a function of distance for different dam heights. The dam is located at 97 cm. U_frontref is the front velocity of the reference avalanche without a dam.

Fig. 2.

Ratio between the maximum horizontal velocity and front velocity as function of height at 47 cm downstream of the dam (Reference Naaim-Bouvet, Naaim, Bacher and HeiligensteinNaaim-Bouvet and others, 2002).

We also focus on what could be called “protected zone length” situated between the dam and the jet collision area. It consists of a small area just downstream of the dam. In our laboratory experiments, this relatively small region, determined by means of image processing, seems to be independent of the dam height (Fig. 3). This is mainly due to the strong entrainment of water inside the gravity current.

Fig. 3.

Gravity current: dimensionless jump length as function of dam height (average 15 runs/H₀ =13.5 cm).

3. Dense-Snow Avalanches

The dense part of major avalanches with dry and cold snow is generally regarded as a granular flow. Many previous experimental works (Reference Hutter and KochHutter and Koch, 1991; Reference Greve and HutterGreve and Hutter, 1993; Reference Koch, Greve and HutterKoch and others, 1994; Reference Hutter, Koch, Plüss and SavageHutter and others, 1995; Reference Gray, Wieland and HutterGray and others, 1999) have confirmed that the Savage– Hutter model (Reference Savage and HutterSavage and Hutter, 1989), based on a Coulombian dry-friction term as the dominant momentum-loss mechanism, predicts the details of the motion of dry granular masses in the laboratory. However, this model seems to be only well adapted for high slopes with a smooth bed (Reference Pouliquen and ForterrePouliquen and Forterre, 2002). A new empirical friction law has been formulated for dense gravity mass flows on rough beds (Reference PouliquenPouliquen, 1999). This model has been shown to describe quite well low-Froude-number flows on lower slopes with a rough bed (Reference Pouliquen and ForterrePouliquen and Forterre, 2002). This recent progress has been integrated in snow avalanche modelling (Naaim and others, in press), particularly in order to study the interaction of dense flows with obstacles. The constitutive law relevant to describe, with high precision, granular flows is still an open question. However, numerous studies have recently been carried out to better understand the interaction of these flows with obstacles. Two questions arise when a dense granular flow interacts with an obstacle. Each of them concerns a particular scale:

According to the desired effects (momentum reduction or storage), dams are generally set up at the end of the flow zone (high Froude number) or in the run-out zone (intermediate or low Froude number). A series of experiments with different granular materials at different scales were performed concerning the influence of the dimensionless obstacle height H_dam/H₀ (ratio of the obstacle height to the reference flow depth at the same location) on the run-out shortening D_dam/D₀ (ratio of the run-out distance with obstacle to the run-out distance without obstacle) (Reference Hákonardóttir, Jóhannesson, Tiefenbacher and KernHákonardóttir and others, 2001; Reference Faug, Naaim, Bertrand, Lachamp and Naaim-BouvetFaug and others, 2003).

Therun-out shortening results from: (i) the local momentum loss generated by impact on the dam, flow deflection, jump and impact on the ground, and (ii) the reduction of the volume of the avalanche which limits the spreading length.

The total run-out distance of a given avalanche without any obstacle can be written as the sum of the run-out of the centre of mass (D_0-cm) and half of the spreading length in the stopping zone (D_0-s):

The total run-out distance of the avalanche impacting a thin obstacle can be written as the sum of the run-out of the centre-of-mass (D_dam-cm) and one-half of the spreading length in the stopping zone (D_dam-s):

The total run-out shortening generated by a dam is then given by:

If u_up is the velocity upstream of the dam and u_down the velocity of the avalanche after the impact of the jet on the ground, the centre-of-mass run-out distances can be written as follows:

g is the acceleration due to gravity, θ is the slope angle, D_jump is the length of the jump and μ is the effective friction coefficient at the bottom. These results hold if the external forces are velocity-independent.

If the deposit obtained with the dam is geometrically similar to the deposit without the dam, then:

where V_t is the initial volume and V_s is the volume retained upstream of the dam.

The total run-out shortening can be written as follows:

This new formulation shows the contribution of the two processes more clearly than in Reference Faug, Naaim, Bertrand, Lachamp and Naaim-BouvetFaug and others (2003). The run-out shortening due to the momentum loss is distinguished from the run-out shortening due to the avalanche

volume reduction.

If we assume proportional to H_dam/H₀, the run-out shortening decreases linearly with H_dam/H₀ as evidenced by the experimental data plotted in Figure 4.

Fig. 4.

Granular flows: dimensionless run-out υs dimensionless obstacle height.

4. Powder and Dense Avalanches: Jet Analysis

5. Conclusion

In this paper, we studied the action of a thin dam on avalanche flows. We considered two parameters. The flow was represented by its densimetric Froude number, and the dam was represented by its height. The avalanche dense flows were regarded as granular flows, and the powder avalanches as inertial gravity currents. Several experiments were performed both for granular and for inertial gravity currents. The experiments allowed us to quantify: (i) the momentum reduction for both kinds of flows and (ii) the run-out distance shortening for dense flows. In the latter case, the new formulation developed in this paper clearly distinguishes the effects of momentum reduction from those of mass reduction on the run-out distance shortening.

The momentum reduction due to the airborne jet (flying phase) is also studied and modelled using a simple jet theory. The model was calibrated using experimental results obtained in the case of gravity-current laboratory simulations. This model was thereafter successfully used to reproduce dense granular flying avalanches in terms of both velocity and trajectories without any new calibration.

The contribution of the ambient-fluid entrainment to the dynamics of four different airborne jets, corresponding to granular flows, dense flows, powder flows and gravity-current flows, was studied. The following conclusions were obtained. The influence of the ambient fluid was found negligible for granular flows. The ratio between the entrainment effects (drag and ambient-fluid incorporation) and the gravity force strongly depends on the densimetric Froude number. It was found to be up to 10% for dense avalanches, 40% for powder avalanches and 60% for gravity-current flows.