A cellular automaton for the study of the progressive failure of rockfill dams caused by overtopping flows is presented. The celebrated Bak, Tang and Wiesenfeld’s model, proposed in 1987 to reproduce sand avalanches on the surface of a sand heap is adapted to a rockfill dam with an impervious central core that is subjected to extreme throughflow caused by overtopping flow or by failure of the watertightness of the core, or the dam foundation. The downstream rockfill shoulder is represented by a set of cells whose states (elevation and submergence) evolve according to a set of fixed transition rules. These rules, which are affected by the instantaneous throughflow, are based on widely used hydraulic and geotechnical approaches to mass sliding and particle dragging mechanisms. The CA model has been validated with laboratory experiments performed on a U-shaped channel. Albeit the apparent simplicity of the underlying formulation, this model not only sheds light on a complex phenomenon but also provides a way for quantifying the overtopping throughflow needed to threaten the central core or upstream face, which can lead to a catastrophic failure.

提出了一种元胞自动机，用于研究漫顶水流引起的堆石坝渐进式破坏。著名的 Bak、Tang 和 Wiesenfeld 模型于 1987 年提出，用于重现沙堆表面的沙崩，适用于具有不透水中心核心的堆石坝，该堆石坝因溢流或水密性失效而受到极端通流的影响的核心，或大坝基础。下游堆石坝肩由一组单元表示，其状态（高程和淹没）根据一组固定的转换规则演变。这些受瞬时通流影响的规则基于广泛使用的水力和岩土工程方法来解决质量滑动和颗粒拖曳机制。CA 模型已通过在 U 形通道上进行的实验室实验得到验证。尽管基本公式明显简单，但该模型不仅揭示了复杂现象，而且还提供了一种量化威胁中央核心或上游面所需的溢流通流的方法，这可能导致灾难性故障。