Experimental Verse Numerical Analysis of Seepage Through Homogeneous and Non-Homogeneous Earth Dams

  • Hussein Jassim Abdulsameea Alobaidi, Khalid R. Mahmood Al-Janabi, Ayad Abdulhameed Sulaibi
Keywords: earth dam, seepage, experimental, numerical analysis, SEEP/W, homogeneous, non-homogeneous.

Abstract

Earthen dams are the oldest and most widespread dams globally, but they are the most prone to collapse. One of the most important reasons for dam collapse is the seepage problem. In this paper, the effect of the core and the horizontal drain on the phreatic line and the amount of seepage has been studied using four physical models of an earth dam. The first two models are homogeneous without/with horizontal drain, and the second two models are non-homogeneous with/without horizontal drain. The results of physical models are compared with numerical results using the SEEP/W program. It is noticed that the phreatic line in the first model cuts downstream, but with exist the drain in the second model, the amount of seepage is increased by 42% while preserving the phreatic line within the dam body. In the third and fourth models, the amount of seepage decreases to more than 90%, keeping the phreatic line within the dam body despite the existence or not the existing drain. The results of the SEEP/W of the phreatic line have a correlation coefficient of more than 96% and seepage rate relative error less than 3% compared to experimental results. When the piping occurs inside the dam body, the relative error of seepage is more than 27%, which is the most significant difference between the physical and numerical results.

Published
2021-08-25
How to Cite
Ayad Abdulhameed Sulaibi , H. J. A. A. K. R. M. A.-J. (2021). Experimental Verse Numerical Analysis of Seepage Through Homogeneous and Non-Homogeneous Earth Dams. Design Engineering, 10147-10158. Retrieved from http://thedesignengineering.com/index.php/DE/article/view/3737
Section
Articles