Solution of internal erosion equations by asymptotic expansion

Abstract

One dimensional coupled soil internal erosion and consolidation equations are considered in this work for the special case of well determined sand and clay mixtures with a small proportion of clay phase. An enhanced modelling of the effect of erosion on elastic soil behavior was introduced through damage mechanics concepts. A modified erosion law was proposed. The erosion phenomenon taking place inside the soil was shown to act like a perturbation affecting the classical soil consolidation equation. This interpretation has enabled considering an asymptotic expansion of the coupled erosion consolidation equations in terms of a perturbation parameter linked to the maximum expected internal erosion. A robust analytical solution was obtained via direct integration of equations at order zero and an adequate finite difference scheme that was applied at order one. © Owned by the authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2012.