Set of measurement data from flume experiments on steady uniform debris flows

Abstract

The paper documents a detailed set of measurements from laboratory experiments involving open–channel flows of granular–liquid mixtures. Polyvinyl Chloride pellets mixed with clear water are used, and represent simplified analogues of the mixtures of rocks and muddy water encountered in stony inertial debris flows. The flows are examined in steady uniform conditions, achieved by setting up a closed loop with an inclined channel and a high–speed conveyor belt. Such idealized conditions make it possible to estimate stresses within the flowing mixture, and to accumulate statistics of local granular configurations and motions. These are extracted from video sequences imaged through the sidewall, using algorithms based on the Voronoï diagram. Estimates of granular concentration and granular temperature are derived from local grain patterns and from a detailed analysis of Lagrangian and Eulerian velocity correlations. Depth profiles of kinematic and dynamic quantities are then obtained for various ratios of solid to liquid discharges. These data were earlier used to probe depth variations of rheological behaviour in granular–liquid flows. To make them available for other purposes, they are assembled here into a comprehensive dataset, and provided in digital form in the electronic supplement to this special issue.