Session6: Water-related Disaster Risk Reduction
Title: EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON DROWNING ACCIDENT RISK IN RIVER AND SIDE DITCH
Sosuke Oka, Takaaki Okamoto, Keiichi Toda, Yasufumi Touma
Climate change increases the frequency of torrential rains and drowning accident frequently occurs. Therefore, it is very important to study the hydrodynamic force exerted on the human body in flood water. In this study, two kinds of the flume experiments were conducted using a small-scale model of the human body. First, we measured the drag force exerted on the human body in flood water. Second, we examined the drowning accident risk in a narrow side ditch. Flume experiments were conducted by changing the flume width (In real scale, B=1.6m, 0.8m, 0.4m). Drag force exerted on the human body model was measured by a Force gauge. The results can be used as primary assessment to define the drowning risk in a river or a channel after torrential rain.