Debris Flow Drainage Channel with Energy Dissipation Structures: Experimental Study and Engineering Application

Abstract

Experimental analyses and prototype observations of a debris flow drainage channel with energy dissipation structures were performed in this study. On the basis of 16 groups of experiments, a simple empirical relationship was proposed to determine the roughness coefficient of an energy dissipation structure section in a drainage channel. The experimental results suggest that the comprehensive roughness coefficient gradually increases with increases in the area of the energy dissipation structure section. Meanwhile, the comprehensive roughness coefficient gradually approaches the roughness coefficient of the smooth channel as the area of the energy dissipation structure section decreases to less than 1% of the channel area. Moreover, the debris flow velocity measured in the prototype drainage channel validated the effectiveness of the empirical relationship. Therefore, this calculation method is beneficial in optimizing the design of drainage channels with energy dissipation structures.