Geo-Disaster Modeling and Analysis ― An SPH Based Approach

Through application of the Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) method, this monograph mainly focuses on large deformations and flow failure simulations of geomaterials and movement behavior, which are always involved in geo-disasters. The work covers the theoretical background, numerical techniques, code implementation issues, and many novel and interesting applications. Two-dimensional and three-dimensional SPH models in the framework of both hydrodynamics and solid mechanics are established, with detailed descriptions. The monograph also contains many appealing and practical examples of geo-disaster modeling and analysis, including the fluidized movement of flow-like landslides, lateral spread of liquefied soils, and flow slides in landfills. In the documented SPH simulations, the propagation of geo-disasters is effectively reproduced. Dynamic behaviors of geomaterials during propagation are ascertained, including sliding path, flow velocity, maximum distance reached, and distribution of deposits. In this way, the monograph presents a means for mapping hazardous areas, estimating hazard intensity, and identifying and designing appropriate protective measures.

The first author of this monograph, Professor Yu Huang, born 1973, received his Ph.D. in Geotechnical Engineering from Tongji University, Shanghai, China. He is now a deputy head of that department and a deputy director of the Key Laboratory of Geotechnical and Underground Engineering of the Ministry of Education at Tongji University.

Professor Huang’s primary area of research includes geologic disasters, computational geomechanics, earthquake geotechnical engineering, environmental geology, and foundation engineering. He has authored more than 150 technical publications, including more than 30 papers in international refereed journals such as the Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment, Engineering Geology, Landslides, Natural Hazards, Environmental Earth Sciences, Geotextiles and Geomembranes, and Waste Management & Research. He now serves on the editorial board for the Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment (the official journal of IAEG), Geotechnical Research (ICE) and Geoenvironmental Disasters (Springer).

Co-author Zili Dai, born 1987, is a Ph.D. student of Professor Yu Huang at Tongji University. He received his bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from Shanghai University in 2010. He worked at Northwestern University and the University of California, Berkeley as a visiting scholar between 2012 and 2013.

Co-author Weijie Zhang, born 1986, was awarded bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Geological Engineering from Tongji University. He worked as a master’s student in Professor Yu Huang’s research group between 2009 and 2012. He is currently a Ph.D. student in Nagoya Institute of Technology in Japan.