Laboratory Analysis of Mudflow Properties

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Abstract
A rotational viscometer has been designed for laboratory measurements of the rheological properties of natural mudflow deposits in Colorado. The mudflow matrices comprised of silt and clay particles are sheared under temperature‐controlled conditions at volumetric sediment concentrations ranging from 0.10–0.45. This study stresses the importance of conducting rheological measurements at low rates of shear because: 1) Those are the conditions found in natural channels; and 2) they avoid the slippage problems observed at large sediment concentrations. At low rates of shear, the Bingham model is fitted to the measured rheograms, and both the viscosity and yield stress increase exponentially with the sediment concentration of the fluid matrix. Both the yield stress and the viscosity increase by three orders of magnitude as the volumetric concentration of sediments in the fluid matrix changes from 0.10 to 0.40. The addition of sand particles does not significantly alter the rheological properties of the matrix...

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