Theformationoflandslidedamsisofteninducedbyearthquakesinmountainousareas.Thefailureofalandslidedamtypicallyresultsincatastrophicflashfloodsordebrisflowsdownstream.Significantattentionhasbeengiventotheprocessesandmechanismsinvolvedinthefailureofinpiduallandslidedams.However,theprocessesleadingtodominofailuresofmultiplelandslidedamsremainunclear.Inthisstudy,experimentaltestswerecarriedouttoinvestigatethedominofailureoflandslidedamsandtheconsequentenlargementofdownstreamdebrisflows.Differentblockageconditionswereconsidered,includingcompleteblockage,partialblockageanderodiblebed(noblockage).Themeanvelocityoftheflowfrontwasestimatedbyvideos.Totalstresstransducers(TSTs)andLaserrangefinders(LRFs)wereemployedtomeasurethetotalstressandthedepthoftheflowfront,respectively.Underacompleteblockagepattern,aportionofthedebrisflowwastrappedinfrontofeachretainedlandslidedambeforethelattercollapsedcompletely.Thiswasaccompaniedbyadramaticdecreaseinthemeanvelocityoftheflowfront.Conversely,underbothpartialblockageanderodiblebedconditions,themeanvelocityoftheflowfrontincreasedgraduallydownwardalongtheslopingchannel.Dominofailuresofthelandslidedamsweretriggeredwhenaseriesofdams(completeblockageandpartialblockage)weredistributedalongtheflume.However,notallofthesedominofailuresledtoenlargeddebrisflows.Themodesofdamfailureshavesignificantimpactsontheenlargementofdebrisflows.Therefore,furtherresearchisnecessarytounderstandthemechanismsofdominofailuresoflandslidedamsandtheireffectsontheenlargementofdebrisflows.
