Kinematics of flow mass movements on inclined surfaces

Flow mass movements are catastrophic events occurring all over the world and may result in a great number of casualties and widespread damages. The analysis of the time–space evolution of the kinematic quantities is a useful tool to understand the propagation stage of these phenomena as well as for control works design. In order to compare the kinematic effects in terms of adopted rheology, the paper deals with the flow regime of Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids on inclined surfaces and provides a contribution to this topic through the use of numerical procedures based on a finite volume (FV) scheme. The flow kinematic is analyzed through the Froude number, which is able to provide a unique overall description of flow behavior, including the temporal–spatial variability of the propagation heights and flow velocities. Case studies concern a 1D/2D dam break of Newtonian (water flow) and non-Newtonian flows (in particular based on a viscoplastic law). The analysis of Newtonian flows aims to validate the adopted FV scheme against available analytical solutions of a dam break problem.