Seepage Analysis of Earth Dam Considering Horizontal Filter by FEM

Abstract

Assessment of seepage analysis through the earth dam is essential in the present era. The agricultural products are closely related to the earth dam. The earth dam is used not only to store water but also to protect the land from erosion. The stored water often sweeps through the earth dam which is responsible for piping and sloughing at the downstream side of the dam. To protect the earth dam from piping and sloughing, different types of filters media are used. The Finite Element Method (FEM) can be used to study such issues of the earth dam. In this study, SEEP/W has been used to carry out the seepage problems by incorporating the filters. In the numerical model of earth dam, the dam body and the foundation of the dam have been made with silty clay and clayey soil. The horizontal filter incorporated in the model has been comprised of coarse sand. The numerical results depict that the phreatic line suddenly drops within the dam body when the filter media is used. The position, thickness and height-length ratio of the filter media have no notable impact in bringing down the phreatic lines within the dam body. The evolution tendency of pore water pressure with distance is almost similar regardless of filter media used in this study. However, the discharge through the filter media of earth dam is a function of the positions, thickness and height-length ratio of the filter media.