Slump-flow channel test for evaluating the relations between spreading and rheological parameters of sediment mixtures

Understanding debris flow phenomena and modeling them effectively requires accurate estimation of their rheological parameters. This study introduces a simple approach defined as the “slump-flow channel test”, which employs a horizontal rectangular channel to evaluate these parameters. The results of slump-flow channel tests indicate that the spreading parameters (spread length, angle of reach, and time to final spread) of sediment mixtures are strongly influenced by their sediment fractions and rheological properties. An empirical analysis of the temporal evolution of the spread length and spread velocity was carried out employing both experimental and simulation results. The numerical simulation of the slump-flow channel tests was performed using the Flow-3D software. Both experimental and simulation results demonstrate that the spreading and the rheological parameters of sediment mixtures exhibit strong correlations and this implies that the rheological parameters of sediment mixtures can be evaluated indirectly using a simple slump-flow channel test.