CE 428

Seepage Theoretical Aspects & Control

Soil is a porous media; depending on the pore size and other contributing factors, water can flow through it under different gradients Water in the reservoir retained by an embankment (dam) is expected to flow (or seep) through the embankment as well as from the foundation soils The seeping water, in addition to causing a loss in storage, can also be detrimental to the stability of the dam embankment and / or the foundation soils Flow of water through the soil may be one, two or three dimensional For earth dams with impermeable abutments, the flow is mostly two dimensional

The flow is not always in One-Dimension

Stress conditions & Pore pressure at different points?

Pervious Layer

Impervious Layer

The study of flow through the soil is necessary to:

Estimate the quantity of seepage flow

Estimate the hydraulic gradient (i), and to check the possibility of boiling or quick condition

Estimate the pore water pressure distribution

Decide on the best locations for cut-off walls, filters, instrumentation etc. Compute effective vertical stress

Water always flows through under some head (energy) At any point, the total head is obtained by using the relation
u v2 h z ,where w 2g u pressure head ;u porewater pressure w z potential head v2 velocity head ;v seepage velocity 2g

Velocity of seeping water is usually very small; and, therefore, velocity head is negligible, i.e,

v 0 2g
Therefore,

u h z w

As water flows from one point to another, some energy is consumed or some head is lost
u1 u2 w w z1 ,& z2

h1 h2

h h1 h2 h1 h2 h Direction of flow ? u1 u1 z1 z1 h w w

Flow of water through the soil may either be a:

Steady State Flow If the structure of soil remains unchanged as the water flows through it, the flow is termed as a steady state flow, or It indicates that the soil and flowing water are in a state of equilibrium and no change is being affected in flow pattern or in soil structure The quantity of water entering an element of soil equals the amount leaving the element Transient Flow During Transient (or unsteady) flow, the structure of soil does not remains the same, i.e., the volume of soil changes (may increasing or decrease) during transient flow The quantity of water entering a soil element is not equal to the volume of water leaving the soil element

Flow of water through the soils is governed by physical laws. Following states needs to be defined to analyze flow of water through the soils Continuity of fluid Net mass flow per unit of time into or out of an element of volume is equal to the change per unit of time of fluid mass in that element State of fluid The density of flowing fluid (water) is constant Motion of fluid Governed by Darcys Law h

v ki k

 Steady State Seepage

Basing on the equations of continuity, state of fluid and

state of motion, the general equation of continuity is expressed in the following form:
2h 2h 2h kx 2 k y 2 kz 2 0 x y z
For a two dimensional case (as in case of most of dams

with flanks on impermeable abutments)

2h 2h kx 2 kz 2 0 x z

Steady State Seepage For an isotropic soil; kx = kz, therefore

2h 2h 2 0 2 x z
Which is Laplace equation

For anisotropic soils; kx kz, equivalent permeability can

found

The mathematical solution of this equation provides two sets of orthogonal curves; Flow Lines and Equipotential Lines

Seepage Theoretical Aspects

The set of flow lines and equipotential lines can be obtained by

Mathematical analysis: The solutions are possible only for

simple boundary conditions. For complex conditions we can use

finite difference or finite element methods

Models: Electrical analogy model or fluid model Graphical method: Drawing a flow net by trial and error

Flow Lines define the physical path of flow Equipotential Lines are lines with constant total head Together, these lines constitutes a Flow Net

Flow Nets Isotropic Soils (kx=kz)

Drawing a Flow Net
Rate of flow in one channel is: q k h
If we have Nf flow channels:

q N f k h
If we have Ne equipotential drops and the total head loss through the soil is hL: hL h Ne N q k h f L N
e

* For homogeneous and isotropic soil:

Drawing a Flow Net Identify boundary conditions soil - impervious boundary = is a flow line soil - water boundary = is an equipotential line Start with a small number of flow lines in a zone where you expect them to be parallel and equally spaced. (Keep it simple: 2-3 flow channels are enough) Equipotential lines and flow lines will intersect each other at 90 and will form curvilinear squares: check squareness by fitting a circle Two flow lines can not intersect each other Two equipotential lines can not intersect each other All transitions should be smooth and gradual The number of flow channels and equipotential lines may be a fractional number

Flow Nets Isotropic Soils (kx=kz)

h iF l
hL h 8

2 h iG l1 l2
uA (hLw hG y( ))L h G ( y) z h
hB y y 0 hG (hL 5 h)

 2h 2h kx kz 0 x 2 z 2

Usually horizontal permeability is greater than vertical permeability To use Laplace equation, we need to transform coordinates; the coord can be transformed by using following relation k

x' x

kx

For example: kx = 4.kz

x' = 0.5x

Draw flow net in a transformed section Once the flow net is completed, it can be re-drawn (stretched horizontally) to the natural scale In this case, the nets are not squares and the equipotential lines and flow lines do not intersect at 90

The quantity of seepage is calculated from

q k hL Nf Ne

k kx kz

Nf and Ne can be counted either from natural or

transformed section Hydraulic gradient and pore water pressure must be determined from the natural section, where the true distances can be read

Often the foundation soil may consist of layers with different permeability characteristics For an earth-fill dam, a pronounced difference in permeability of embankment material and foundation soil is expected In general, higher the permeability, smaller will be the head loss Thus water flowing from lower permeability soil to a higher permeability soil (or for a reverse case), the spacing between flow lines and equipotential lines will not remain the same

The flow lines will deflect at the interface of layers with different perm abilities
Spacing between flow lines decreases

Spacing between flow lines increases

The flow lines will deflect at the interface of layers with different perm abilities The continuity of flow lines is maintained; although there is an abrupt change in direction of flow The number of flow channels and equipotential lines must remain constant throughout the flow net Soil layer with high permeability dominates the flow location and quantity Thus flow net can be drawn for soil with high permeability and extended into soil of low permeability to meet the other requirements

Phreatic surface

The phreatic surface connects points at which the pressure head is zero Atmospheric pressure acts on the phreatic surface Phreatic surface is assumed as a flow line and flow net can be drawn after locating the phreatic surface

Phreatic surface

The drain is made of gravel, which has an infinite hydraulic conductivity compared to that of the clay The hydraulic gradient in a drain is effectively zero, i.e. the drain is an equipotential line

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A step-by-step procedure to obtain the seepage rate q (per unit length of the dam) is as follows:

1. Obtain .

2. Calculate and then 0.3 .

3. Calculate d 4. With known values of and d, calculate L.

5. With known values of L, calculate q.

q kL sin 2
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