In-situ hydraulic tests using borehole in soft soil foundation

Abstract

Leakage of water due to internal erosion through a dam body or foundation is a major problem with fill-type dams. Recent case histories and research suggest that most cases of internal erosion are possibly triggered by hydraulic fracturing. However, the quantitative mechanism of hydraulic fracturing still remains to be solved. Therefore in-situ hydraulic fracture tests were carried out with a cheap, concise apparatus using boreholes dug in the soft clayey volcanic soil foundation of a low earth dam (Oyachi Dam) in Niigata Prefecture. Water was injected into the foundation through a perforated pipe by two methods: one was under a controlled injection pressure and the other was a controlled injection flow rate. In the former method, the relationship between flow rate and injection pressure was observed and it was found that a yield pressure or fracture pressure existed in all the tests. By repeating the injection test it was confirmed that once a crack is developed, it is very easily reopened by a water pressure a little higher than the earth pressure exerted on the crack. In the latter method, the relationship between injection pressure and time was observed and it was found that fracture pressure varied with flow rate. The boreholes were excavated to observe the development of fracture cracks and it was also found that the cracks had developed perpendicular to the borehole periphery, which means that fracture cracks were induced by tensile stress and denies the explanation that fractures are caused by shear failure.