Estimation of granular flow impact force on rigid wall using material point method

Landslides and avalanches cause loss of lives, as well as generate significant economic cost. Protection barriers help reduce the impact of such events. However, the design of the barriers requires the prediction of the landslide flow trajectory and the estimation of impact force. Material Point Method appears to have great potential for estimating those, since it can account for large displacement nature of sediment flows and their nonlinear behaviour. Therefore, it may be able to capture the complex interaction of landslides or avalanches with the ground and structures. This study focuses on simulating granular flows with Generalized Interpolation Material Point Method. The calculations use a constitutive model inspired by the Bagnold theory of granular flow [1] to model sand landslide / avalanche experiment [2] with sand treated as a linear elasto-plastic material. Shown simulations aim was to replicate the experiment. In particular, the paper focuses on estimation of the impact force of sand flow on a fixed rigid wall. Such force estimation is a first step to validate the Generalized Interpolation Material Point Method for use as a tool for the design of barriers defending against landslides and avalanches