Probability of Excessive Hydraulic Flow through Soil Liners
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 139, Issue 6
Abstract
Liner systems are increasingly being used to protect the environment from contaminated waste. At the same time, society is increasingly insisting on estimates of the probability that these liner systems will fail to achieve their design objectives, one of which is to limit hydraulic flow from the contaminated region to acceptably small levels. This paper presents a methodology to estimate the probability of excessive hydraulic flow, considering the spatial variability of the soil composing the liner (its mean, variance, and correlation length) as well as the liner thickness. Semiempirical equations predicting the mean and variance of the effective hydraulic conductivity of the liner, based on theory and calibrated by random finite-element method simulations, are presented and used to investigate the probability that a liner exceeds regulatory hydraulic flow requirements. The proposed methodology is illustrated by an example.
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Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.
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Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 139 • Issue 6 • June 2013
Pages: 937 - 946
Copyright
© 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jan 20, 2012
Accepted: Aug 8, 2012
Published online: Aug 20, 2012
Published in print: Jun 1, 2013
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