Analysis of Seepage through Earth Dams with Internal Core

Abstract

Seepage flow through earth embankments is the primary cause that leads to failure due to eroding, scouring, and piping. Flow of water through soil can lead to movement of the soil grains. Continued movement causes erosion. Many factors can affect the movement of the soil grains including hydraulic gradient, soil plasticity, particle size, capillary tension, and others. In this research, seepage passing through the body of earth dam with/without internal core has been studied experimentally and numerically. Different models have been studied using GEOSTUDIO (2012) program in term of SEEP/W and SLOPE/W. SEEP/W was used to compute seepage, while SLOPE/W was used for the analysis of slope stability. Numerical results have been verified using experimental data from seepage and permeability model. The effect of core permeability, core width, core base thickness, and core penetration on seepage, pressure head, exit gradient, upstream and downstream slope stabilities have been studied. It's concluded that by Increasing of side slopes (H:V), a noticeable drop of seepage line is observed with increasing of downstream slope stability, by decreasing core permeability, increasing core thickness, base core thickness, and core penetration, the quantity of seepage and exit gradient decreased upstream slope stability decreased and downstream slope stability increased.