Runout prediction and deposit characteristics investigation by the distance potential-based discrete element method: the 2018 Baige landslides, Jinsha River, China

Runout prediction and deposit characteristics investigation for the long runout rock landslides are challenging and interesting problems nowadays. On a practical level, the landslide is a critical issue around the world which could lead to catastrophic consequences. One of the current typical instances is the successive Baige landslides in Tibet, China, where massive damages to infrastructure constructions led to evacuation of more than 86,000 people. The work is specially aimed at investigating the dynamic behaviors of the long runout rock landslides and predicting the potential impact region by numerical simulations. The focus is on the representation of the interaction between the constituent blocks and macro-scale response of landslides. In this case, the distance potential-based discrete element method is adopted to solve the above problems and reproduce the sliding process of the Baige landslides. Before applied in modeling the Baige landslides, performances of this method are firstly validated by two well-known benchmark experiments. The simulation results agree well with the existing experimental measurements and reported observations. It is proved that the method could predict a quantitative accumulation area of related landslides and provide a reference of hazard mitigation.

Automated summary

Prediction and investigation of long runout rock landslides are challenging and interesting, focusing on the interaction between constituent blocks and macro-scale response. Numerical simulations are used to predict potential impact regions, validated by benchmark experiments, providing a reference for hazard mitigation.