Abstract: The purpose of research on dam-break flood is to calculate the dam-break flow, water level hydrograph and the downstream flood flow, flow velocity, water level, arrival time of the wave front and peak along the flow path, to evaluate the loss caused by downstream flood and take measures to reduce flood risk. A review was made on the study of dam-break flood from aspects of theoretical analysis, physical experiment and numerical simulation on dam failure and flood routing in the downstream. The developments, achievements and progresses of researches on dam-break flood in recent years in China and abroad are summarized, and the prospects and focus were prospected. At present, the numerical solution of the dam break theory is developing rapidly, the dam-break mechanism has been proposed according to dam-break experiments, the research has become increasingly modelled. But it’s hard to accurately express the dyke erosion process while high strength sediment transport theory has not been established yet, and also the research about cascade dam-break floods and glacier lake outburst floods is rare. In the future, we should strengthen the theoretical research, conduct large-scale model test for dam breach of cascade reservoirs, improve simulation of cascade dam-break floods and glacier lake outburst floods, and further build a fast and reliable forecasting system for regional dam-break flood.

Key words: dam-break flood, dam-break experiment, flood routing, numerical simulation, glacier lake outburst flood