3D WCSPH modelling of the 1963 Vajont landslide

Abstract

This study illustrates the full-scale 3D numerical simulation of the coupled water-landslide dynamics of the 1963 Vajont catastrophic event. The focus is given to the early phase of the event when about 270 million cubic meters of rock fell into the reservoir within an estimated runout time of about 25 seconds. A complex surge wave system developed throughout the basin in the first 40-55 seconds, producing maximum run-up of 270 m above the dam crowning. The mesh-free Lagrangian weakly compressible Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (WCSPH) method is adopted to discretize and solve the coupled system of governing equations for the landslide and water dynamics. The novelties regard the validation of a derived model and the influence of water saturated soil on prediction of surge wave run-up. The average values from technical literature are assigned to mechanical parameters without tuning or calibration. The maximum flooding on the opposite side of the valley and the peak flow rate of the discharge hydrograph through the dam section show good agreement with reference data and improvements with respect to published results. The validated derived model proves to be a promising engineering tool for quantifying the level of risk in analogous applications.