Influence of Boundary Conditions in a Finite-Element Analysis of River Levees
Publication: International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 11, Issue 5
Abstract
The effects of boundary conditions on the stability of a river levee built on a low-permeability soil layer overlying a coarse-grained deposit were studied by using the finite-element method (FEM). The FEM analyses could predict stable or unstable levee conditions depending on the assumed distance between the levee and the external boundary of the mesh where the water table was assumed undisturbed. Possible causes of this notable drawback are discussed. The calibration of the numerical seepage model, through a back analysis of piezometer measurements, that could limit the observed boundary effects is suggested.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
Barends, F. B. J. (1988). “Uplift in the hinterland at high water levels.” Rep. No. CO-290831/2, GeoDelft, Delft, Netherlands (in Dutch).
Barends, F. B. J. (2003). “Groundwater mechanics and flood risk management.” Groundwater engineering—Recent advances, Vol. 1, I. Kono, M. Nishigaki, and M. Komatsu, eds.,Swets and Zeitlinger, Lisse, Netherlands, 53–66.
Bauduin, C. M. H., Moses, C. J. B., and van Baalen, M. (1989). “The influence of uplift pressure on the deformations and stability of flood embankments.” Proc., 12th Int. Conf. on Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, Vol. 3, Balkema, Rotterdam, Netherlands, 1713–1716.
Cividini, A., and Gioda, G. (2004). “Pore pressure tension cut-off in two-phase finite element analyses.” Comput. Geotech., 31(8), 613–624.
Cividini, A., and Gioda, G. (2007). “Back-analysis approach for the design of drainage systems.” Int. J. Geomech., 7(5), 325–332.
Cooling, L. F., and Marsland, A. (1954). “Soil mechanics studies of failures in the sea defence banks of Essex and Kent.” Proc., Conf. on the North Sea Floods, Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), London, 58–73.
Gabr, M. A., Wolff, T. F., Brizendine, A. L., and Taylor, H. M. (1996). “Underseepage analysis of levees on two-layer and three-layer foundation.” Comput. Geotech., 18(2), 85–107.
Ghaboussi, J., and Wilson, E. L. (1973). “Flow of compressible fluid in porous elastic media.” Int. J. Numer. Methods Eng., 5(3), 419–442.
Hird, C. C., Marsland, A., and Schofield, A. N. (1978). “The development of centrifugal models to study the influence of uplift pressure on the stability of a flood bank.” Géotechnique, 28(1), 85–106.
Marsland, A. (1961). “A study of a breach in an earth embankment caused by uplift pressure.” Proc., 5th Int. Conf. on Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, Vol. 2, Dunod, Paris, 663–668.
Ozkan, S., Adrian, D. D., Sills, G. L., and Singh, V. P. (2008). “Transient head development due to flood induced seepage under levees.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 134(6), 781–789.
Padfield, C. J., and Schofield, A. N. (1983). “The development of centrifugal models to study the influence of uplift pressure on the stability of a flood bank.” Géotechnique, 33(1), 57–66.
Sandhu, R. S., and Wilson, E. L. (1969). “Finite element analysis of seepage in elastic media.” J. Eng. Mech., 95(3), 641–652.
Technical Advisory Committee on Flood Defences (TAW). (1985). Guidelines for river dike design. Part 1: Upper river area, Delft, Netherlands (In Dutch).
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). (1956). Investigation of underseepage and its control, Waterways Experiment Station, Vicksburg, MS.
Van, M. A. (2001). “New approach for uplifting induced slope failure.” Proc., 15th Int. Conf. on Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, Vol. 3, Balkema, Lisse, Netherlands, 2285–2288.
Van, M. A., Koelewijn, A. R., and Barends, F. B. J. (2005). “Uplift phenomenon: Model, validation and design.” Int. J. Geomech., 5(2), 98–106.
Wolff, T. F. (1989). “Levee underseepage analysis for special foundation conditions.” Technical Rep. REMR-GT-11, Waterways Experiment Station, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Vicksburg, MS.
Zienkiewicz, O. C. (1985). “The coupled problem of soil-pore fluid-external fluid interaction—Basis for a geomechanics code.” Proc., 5th Int. Conf. on Numerical Methods in Geomechanics, Balkema, Rotterdam, Netherlands, 1731–1740.
Zienkiewicz, O. C., Valliappan, S., and King, I. P. (1969). “Elastoplastic solution of engineering problems. Initial stress: Finite element approach.” Int. J. Numer. Methods Eng., 1(1), 75–100.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 11 • Issue 5 • October 2011
Pages: 399 - 405
Copyright
© 2011 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Oct 7, 2009
Accepted: Oct 17, 2010
Published online: Sep 15, 2011
Published in print: Oct 1, 2011
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.