Modeling the Erosion and Swelling of the Sides of Transverse Cracks in Embankment Dams
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 145, Issue 5
Abstract
Concentrated leak erosion occurs in transverse cracks in dams when the reservoir rises above the base of the cracks. As water flows through the crack, the sides of the crack will erode if the hydraulic shear stress exceeds the critical shear stress of the soil, and the crack will widen. For cracks above the phreatic surface, the sides of the partially saturated soil in the sides of the cracks will swell with increasing moisture content, narrowing the crack. These two phenomena occur concurrently. Laboratory erosion and swell tests have been carried out on five soils which are representative of the soils used in the core of embankment dams. Using this data and the equations controlling the rate of erosion, crack width versus time has been modelled. This shows that for the soils tested the crack will close for cracks up to about 5 mm wide for a flow gradient of 0.1, and 1 mm to 2 mm wide for a flow gradient of 0.4. For wider cracks the erosion will progress.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
This research was carried out with funding provided by Australian Research Council (LP110100389), University of New South Wales, Department of Public Works, Dam Safety Committee of New South Wales, Murray Darling Basin Authority, Water Corporation, Southern Water, now TasWater, Hydro Tasmania, Melbourne Water, Goulburn-Murray Water, SunWater, URS Australia, now AECOM, GHD, SMEC Australia, and Elforsk.
References
Correia Dos Santos, R. N., L. M. M. S. Caldeira, and E. Maranaha Das Neves. 2015. “Experimental study on crack filling by upstream fills in dams.” Geotechnique 65 (3): 218–230. https://doi.org/10.1680/geot.14.P.198.
Fell, R., M. Foster, R. Davidson, J. Cyganiewicz, G. Sills, and N. Vroman. 2009. A unified method for estimating probabilities of failure of embankment dams by internal erosion and piping.. Sydney, Australia: School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Univ. of New South Wales.
Fell, R., P. MacGregor, D. Stapledon, G. Bell, and M. Foster. 2015. Geotechnical engineering of dams. 2nd ed. London: Taylor & Francis.
FEMA. 2011. Filters for embankment dams, best practices for design and construction. Washington, DC: FEMA.
Foster, M. A., and R. Fell. 2001. “Assessing embankment dams, filters who do not satisfy design criteria.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng. 127 (5): 398–407. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)1090-0241(2001)127:5(398).
ICOLD (International Commission on Large Dams). 2017. Internal erosion of existing dams, levees, and dikes, and their foundations. Bulletin No. 164. Paris: ICOLD.
Lim, S. S. 2006. “Experimental investigation of erosion in variably saturated clay soils.” Ph.D. thesis, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Univ. of New South Wales.
Peirson, W. L. 2018. Flow induced shear stresses in cracks.. Sydney, Australia: Univ. of New South Wales
Seed, H. B., R. J. Woodward, and R. Lundgren. 1962a. “Prediction of swelling potential for compacted clays.” J. Soil Mech. Found. Div. 88 (3): 53–87.
Seed, H. B., R. J. Woodward, and R. Lundgren. 1962b. “Prediction of swelling potential for compacted clays. Discussion by Holtz, G.W., and Gibbs, H.J.” J. Soil Mech. Found. Div. 88 (4): 207–209.
Seed, H. B., R. J. Woodward, and R. Lundgren. 1962c. “Prediction of swelling potential for compacted clays. Discussion by Praszker, M., Zolkov, E., Li, M.C., and Finn, W.D.” J. Soil Mech. Found. Div. 88 (6): 263–270.
Sherard, J. L., and L. P. Dunnigan. 1989. “Critical filters for impervious soils.” J. Geotech. Eng. 115 (7): 927–947. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9410(1989)115:7(927).
USDA-SCS (United States Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service). 1994. “Gradation design of sand and gravel filters.” Part 633, Chap. 26 in National engineering handbook. Washington, DC: USDA-SCS.
Wan, C. F., and R. Fell. 2002. Investigation of internal erosion and piping of soils in embankment dams by the slot erosion test and the hole erosion test. Sydney, Australia: School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Univ. of New South Wales.
Wan, C. F., and R. Fell. 2004a. “Investigation of rate of erosion of soils in embankment dams.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng. 130 (4): 373–380. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)1090-0241(2004)130:4(373).
Wan, C. F., and R. Fell. 2004b. “Laboratory tests on the rate of piping erosion of soils in embankment dams.” ASTM Geotech. Test. J. 27 (3): 295–303. https://doi.org/10.1520/GTJ11903.
Win, S. S. 2006. “Tensile strength of compacted soils subject to wetting and drying.” ME thesis, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Univ. of New South Wales.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
©2019 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Apr 6, 2018
Accepted: Oct 23, 2018
Published online: Feb 22, 2019
Published in print: May 1, 2019
Discussion open until: Jul 22, 2019
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.