Abstract: The Coriolis effect has gradually become one of the key challenges limiting the use of geotechnical centrifuges to handle high-speed debris avalanche disasters. In particular, there is still a lack of in-depth research on the Coriolis effect involved in the study of how volume affects the flowability of debris avalanche based on centrifugal testing. To tackle this issue, a series of centrifuge modeling tests and DEM simulation tests are conducted, and the influence of different initial volumes on the flowability of debris avalanche under various Coriolis conditions is analyzed. The results indicate that the Coriolis force changes the conversion efficiency from potential energy to kinetic energy of debris avalanche and the magnitude of the final transport distance being enhanced with increasing volume. The behavior of debris avalanche with different volumes under Coriolis conditions is controlled by the inertial flow mechanism and particle-agitation restraint mechanism as well as the transition between these two mechanisms. Considering the practicality, it is recommended to ensure that the flow direction is the same as the rotation direction of the centrifuge as much as possible in the physical centrifuge test, while a linear model can be used to calibrate the experimental results.

Key words: debris avalanche, Coriolis effect, volume effect, centrifuge modeling, discrete element modeling