Experimental investigation on the formation and failure of landslide dam using inertial navigation method

Landslides in narrow valleys may block adjacent rivers and dam the incoming water flow. The collapse of these landslide dams may lead to catastrophic flooding downstream. The measurement and early warning of dam failures is an important issue in geomorphic processes. However, Optical and radar-based monitoring methods are not suitable for deep internal probing of a dam, which is necessary for dynamic measurement and early warning. In this study, the acceleration of a smart rock in the simulation dam was measured using inertial navigation method. It is found the acceleration response of smart rocks is detected more than 20 seconds before external observations of dam failure. Buried at different positions within a dam, smart rocks exhibit distinct temporal and data form responses to dam failure. Smart rocks located deeper within the dam show multiple acceleration fluctuations before the actual failure occurs. We hope that the measurement data provided by smart rocks will assist in developing multi-scale models of dam failure.