Coupled problem of saturated-unsaturated seepage flow and internal erosion of soils

K. Fujisawa, D. Niina, A. Murakami, S. Nishimura

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

About 50% of dam failures in the world have been triggered by piping, which is a primary cause of embankment breaks. The phenomenon of piping results from the erosion of soil particles and their transport within the soil mass. In this paper, a numerical method to analyze erosion within soils and transport of eroded soil particles is proposed. For the analysis, the saturated-unsaturated seepage flow of the pore liquid, the detachment of soil particles from the soil fabric and the migration of the eroded particles are needed to be considered. As the results of this numerical simulation, the temporal alteration and the spatial distribution of the porosity, the particle size distribution and the concentration of the detached soil particle in the pore liquid, as well as the pore liquid pressure, can be obtained. The results of this analysis have revealed that the method qualitatively predicts the development of piping inside soil structures, such as embankments, as the solutions of the initial and boundary value problem.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationUnsaturated Soils
Subtitle of host publicationTheoretical and Numerical Advances in Unsaturated Soil Mechanics - Proceedings of the 4th Asia Pacific Conference on Unsaturated Soils
Pages837-842
Number of pages6
Publication statusPublished - 2010
Event4th Asia Pacific Conference on Unsaturated Soils - Newcastle, NSW, Australia
Duration: Nov 23 2009Nov 25 2009

Publication series

NameUnsaturated Soils: Theoretical and Numerical Advances in Unsaturated Soil Mechanics - Proceedings of the 4th Asia Pacific Conference on Unsaturated Soils

Other

Other4th Asia Pacific Conference on Unsaturated Soils
Country/TerritoryAustralia
CityNewcastle, NSW
Period11/23/0911/25/09

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Soil Science

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