Quantifying Measurement Uncertainty in the Critical Secant Gradient Function
Publication: Geo-Risk 2023
ABSTRACT
The critical secant gradient function (CSGF) is a spatial function that defines the hydraulic conditions causing the progression of backward erosion piping, a significant internal erosion failure mode for dams and levees. While recent studies have defined the CSGF analytically and have also demonstrated how to measure it in the laboratory, uncertainty in measurements of the CSGF has not yet been quantified. In this study, a preliminary assessment of the uncertainty in measuring the CSGF is developed by analyzing the residual errors between the best estimate of the CSGF for each experiment and the measured values of the secant gradient at specific points. The results indicate that the errors in the best estimate of the measured CSGF are approximately normally distributed with a standard deviation of 7% for the experimental configuration used. Further research is needed to assess if this level of error is acceptable in practice.
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Published online: Jul 20, 2023
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Continuum mechanics
- Dam failures
- Disaster risk management
- Disasters and hazards
- Dynamics (solid mechanics)
- Engineering fundamentals
- Engineering mechanics
- Erosion
- Errors (statistics)
- Failure modes
- Failures (by type)
- Forensic engineering
- Geology
- Geotechnical engineering
- Hydraulic engineering
- Hydraulic gradients
- Hydraulic properties
- Laboratory tests
- Man-made disasters
- Mathematics
- Motion (dynamics)
- Piping erosion
- Solid mechanics
- Statistics
- Structural engineering
- Tests (by type)
- Uncertainty principles
- Water and water resources
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