Sciences de la Vie

Direct Numerical Simulation of geophysical flows

The driving motivation of this project is to bring a computational approach as a prediction tool for environment hazards such as landslides, or rock- and snow avalanches. Modeling such events requires to deal with large uncertainties on the initial conditions, and with turbulent flows of heterogeneous materials which experiences a chaotic evolution. This implies major issues in terms of accuracy, stability and scalability of the numerical algorithms, but may also require the development of specific rheological models since these materials exhibit viscous, elastic and plastic behaviours. In this perspective, the simulation of a long run-out rock-avalanche is envisaged. Among such events, the Frank slide (Alberta, Canada) is one of the most documented in terms of initial and final conditions. The comparison of the numerical simulations with these measurements is a mandatory step in terms of validation. Moreover, it may provide new insights on the fundamental mechanisms of avalanche propagation which are not yet understood, and thereby enable the improvement of the simplified models used to date.