Seepage Behavior of an Inclined Wall Earth Dam under Fluctuating Drought and Flood Conditions

Most dam seepage safety analyses evaluate a stable seepage field, infiltration line, and seepage flow. However, under fluctuating drought-flood conditions, the soil surface becomes cracked, making it too complicated to conduct a routine seepage analysis. In this paper, the seepage characteristics of...

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Main Authors: Wei Ye, Fuheng Ma, Jiang Hu, Ziyang Li
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2018-01-01
Series:Geofluids
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2018/4734138
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author Wei Ye
Fuheng Ma
Jiang Hu
Ziyang Li
author_facet Wei Ye
Fuheng Ma
Jiang Hu
Ziyang Li
author_sort Wei Ye
collection DOAJ
description Most dam seepage safety analyses evaluate a stable seepage field, infiltration line, and seepage flow. However, under fluctuating drought-flood conditions, the soil surface becomes cracked, making it too complicated to conduct a routine seepage analysis. In this paper, the seepage characteristics of an inclined wall dam under fluctuating drought-flood conditions were studied using a large-scale physical model. The results show that after drought, the permeability coefficient of clay with low crack development was smaller than that of the saturated permeability, but for cracked areas, with high permeability, permeability coefficients were much larger than those of the saturated permeability. As the water level rose, cracks could heal themselves, but this healing was superficial, and the soil could no longer return to its predrought state. After crack healing, the integrity of the dam slope was much less than its original state. In addition, the formation of cracks increased the porosity of the soil and changed the soil permeability, which permanently weakened the antiseepage performance of the clay soil. This study evaluated the seepage flow behavior of an inclined wall dam under fluctuating drought-flood conditions, and results can be used to monitor and protect the weak parts of seepage dams in practical engineering projects.
format Article
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institution Kabale University
issn 1468-8115
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language English
publishDate 2018-01-01
publisher Wiley
record_format Article
series Geofluids
spelling doaj-art-2f49e6e791ac4a909b283ec5226ce4042025-02-03T01:28:58ZengWileyGeofluids1468-81151468-81232018-01-01201810.1155/2018/47341384734138Seepage Behavior of an Inclined Wall Earth Dam under Fluctuating Drought and Flood ConditionsWei Ye0Fuheng Ma1Jiang Hu2Ziyang Li3Nanjing Hydraulic Research Institute, Nanjing 210029, ChinaNanjing Hydraulic Research Institute, Nanjing 210029, ChinaNanjing Hydraulic Research Institute, Nanjing 210029, ChinaNanjing Hydraulic Research Institute, Nanjing 210029, ChinaMost dam seepage safety analyses evaluate a stable seepage field, infiltration line, and seepage flow. However, under fluctuating drought-flood conditions, the soil surface becomes cracked, making it too complicated to conduct a routine seepage analysis. In this paper, the seepage characteristics of an inclined wall dam under fluctuating drought-flood conditions were studied using a large-scale physical model. The results show that after drought, the permeability coefficient of clay with low crack development was smaller than that of the saturated permeability, but for cracked areas, with high permeability, permeability coefficients were much larger than those of the saturated permeability. As the water level rose, cracks could heal themselves, but this healing was superficial, and the soil could no longer return to its predrought state. After crack healing, the integrity of the dam slope was much less than its original state. In addition, the formation of cracks increased the porosity of the soil and changed the soil permeability, which permanently weakened the antiseepage performance of the clay soil. This study evaluated the seepage flow behavior of an inclined wall dam under fluctuating drought-flood conditions, and results can be used to monitor and protect the weak parts of seepage dams in practical engineering projects.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2018/4734138
spellingShingle Wei Ye
Fuheng Ma
Jiang Hu
Ziyang Li
Seepage Behavior of an Inclined Wall Earth Dam under Fluctuating Drought and Flood Conditions
Geofluids
title Seepage Behavior of an Inclined Wall Earth Dam under Fluctuating Drought and Flood Conditions
title_full Seepage Behavior of an Inclined Wall Earth Dam under Fluctuating Drought and Flood Conditions
title_fullStr Seepage Behavior of an Inclined Wall Earth Dam under Fluctuating Drought and Flood Conditions
title_full_unstemmed Seepage Behavior of an Inclined Wall Earth Dam under Fluctuating Drought and Flood Conditions
title_short Seepage Behavior of an Inclined Wall Earth Dam under Fluctuating Drought and Flood Conditions
title_sort seepage behavior of an inclined wall earth dam under fluctuating drought and flood conditions
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2018/4734138
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AT jianghu seepagebehaviorofaninclinedwallearthdamunderfluctuatingdroughtandfloodconditions
AT ziyangli seepagebehaviorofaninclinedwallearthdamunderfluctuatingdroughtandfloodconditions