Failure Evaluation of Brick Walls Subjected to Hydrostatic and Hydrodynamic Forces Brought on Through Flash Floods

Abstract

Flood risk assessments influence urban and land use planning, which presents a significant
research problem. Although quantitative risk and hazard modelling techniques exist, trustworthy,
logical vulnerability assessment methodologies still need improvement. This is especially valid
when evaluating buildings' susceptibility to flooding. This vulnerability is typically conceptualized
using empirical data and is significant for communities' and individuals' safety and economic
reasons. However, these empirical methods are fraught with considerable uncertainties, primarily
due to the inadequate representation of the damage-causing mechanisms on the building envelope.
This research aims to further this field by examining the structural vulnerability of traditional
brick buildings in flash-flooded alpine settings. A conceptual model with a reduced physical basis
that only needs a small amount of input data is suggested using a limit analysis framework; the
resistance of a wall affected by a flash flood is examined while taking various geometric ratios and
building layouts into account. The stability thresholds stated in the results of numerical finite
element models of the studied geometries were positively compared with the dimensionless form as
a function of the water depth. When the suggested vulnerability model is used in risk mitigation
measures, accurate data appropriate for a preliminary risk assessment of extensive building stocks
is produced.