Design of sustainable sheltering structures to reduce landslide hazard for a resilient landscape

Sheltering structures are mitigation measures used to reduce the landslide hazard especially for rapid landslides when the potentially unstable volume or its location makes stabilization difficult. When correctly designed, their use makes the landscape more resilient. Different types of works can be realized based on the morphology of the area, the availability of space, and the positioning of exposed elements within a given territory. Among these works, the protection embankments, such as geosynthetic reinforced structures, are designed to stop and to contain the debris flow runout and the evaluation of debris flow impact force is a relevant issue for design of these structures. The paper presents a two-dimensional (2D) finite element analysis of geosynthetic reinforced embankment subjected to debris flow impact force. The total impact transmitted over time to the reinforced embankment is evaluated as the sum of the static component, which depends on the flowing mass height, and the dynamic component, which depends on both the flowing mass height and its velocity. It is assumed that the embankment entirely halts the debris flow, based on a material accumulation scheme behind the barrier. The deformation behavior of a particular geometric type of embankment is examined through finite element method (FEM) numerical simulations for a designated flow scenario. The analyses have been interpreted in terms of horizontal displacements of the geosynthetic reinforced embankment. The results have shown that the response of the embankment depends on dominant component of impact force.