Evaluation of the Parameters Influencing Self-Healing in Earth Dams
This article is a reply.
VIEW THE ORIGINAL ARTICLEThis article has a reply.
VIEW THE REPLYPublication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 132, Issue 7
Abstract
This paper describes the experimental methods developed to understand the self-healing or progressive erosion of core cracks in earth dams. Concentrated leaks through two types of core cracks are simulated experimentally in flow cells of different configurations. Results of experimental investigations indicate that the current empirical filter criterion for base soils with fines content more than 85%, which stipulates that should be less than 9, is conservative. However, analysis of experimental results suggests that the ratios can not indicate the rate of self-healing or progressive erosion. It also leads to a conclusion that mechanistic understanding, rather than another improved empirical criterion, may be needed for quantitative prediction of self-healing or progressive erosion. In this study, we identified two groups of quantitative parameters influencing the mechanism of self-healing: (1) characteristics of base soils and filters, and (2) hydraulic, geometric, and physicochemical conditions. Experimental methods are presented to evaluate these parameters for which no standardized methods are reported in the current literature.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The work reported in this paper was funded partly by the Agricultural Experiment Station at Kansas State University (Contribution No. 04-275-J), and partly by the Department of Civil Engineering at Kansas State University. Financial support from these agencies is gratefully acknowledged. The first writer is also thankful to Central Soil & Materials Research Station, New Delhi (Government of India) for granting him leave to pursue research.
References
Aberg, B. (1993). “Washout of grains from filtered sand and gravel materials.” J. Geotech. Eng., 119(1), 36–53.
Arulanandan, K., Loganathan, P., and Krone, R. B. (1975). “Pore and eroding fluid influences on surface erosion of soil.” J. Geotech. Eng. Div., Am. Soc. Civ. Eng., 101(1), 51–66.
Arya, L. M., and Dierolf, T. S. (1989). “Predicting soil moisture characteristics from particle size distributions: An improved method to calculate pore radii from particle radii.” Proc., Int. Workshop on Indirect Methods for Estimating the Hydraulic Properties of Unsaturated Soils, M. T. Van Genuchten and F. J. Leij eds., U. S. Salinity Laboratory, Riverside, Calif., 115–124.
D’Appolonia, J. D. (1980). “Soil-bentonite slurry trench cutoffs.” J. Geotech. Eng. Div., Am. Soc. Civ. Eng., 106(4), 399–417.
Foster, M., Fell, R., and Spannagle, M. (2000). “The statistics of embankment dam failures and accidents.” Can. Geotech. J., 37, 1000–1024.
Gruesbeck, C., and Collins, R. E. (1982). “Entrainment and deposition of fine particles in porous media.” SPEJ, 22(6), 847–856.
Hajra, M. G., Reddi, L. N., Glasgow, L. A., Xiao, M., and Lee, I. M. (2002). “Effects of ionic strength on fine particle clogging of soil filters.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 128(8), 631–639.
Indraratna, B., and Radampola, S. (2002). “Analysis of critical hydraulic gradient for particle movement in filtration.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 128(4), 347–350.
Ranganatham, B. V., and Zacharias, G. (1968), “Interaction of density, soil type and time on piping resistance of cohesive soils.” Proc., 3rd Budapest Conf. on Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, 237–246.
Reddi, L. N., and Bonala, M. V. S. (1997). “Analytical solution for fine particle accumulation in soil filters.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 123(12), 1143–1152.
Reddi, L. N., and Kakuturu, S. P. (2004). “Self-healing of concentrated leaks at core-filter interfaces in earth dams.” Geotech. Test. J., 27(1), 89–98.
Reddi, L. N., Lee, I. M., and Bonala, M. V. S. (2000a). “Comparison of internal and surface erosion using flow pump tests on a sand-kaolinite mixture.” Geotech. Test. J., 23(1), 116–122.
Reddi, L. N., Xiao, M., Hajra, M. G., and Lee, I. M. (2000b). “Permeability reduction of soil filters due to physical clogging.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 126(3), 236–246.
Rege, S. D., and Fogler, H. S. (1988). “A network model for deep bed filtration of solid particles and emulsion drops.” AIChE J., 34(11), 1761–1772.
Shaikh, A., Ruff, R. F., and Abt, S. R. (1988). “Erosion rate of compacted NA-montmorillonite soils.” J. Geotech. Eng., 114(3), 296–305.
Sherard, J. L., and Dunnigan, L. P. (1989). “Critical filters for impervious soils.” J. Geotech. Eng., 115(7), 927–947.
United States Soil Conservation Service (USSCS). (1994). “Gradient design of sand and gravel filters.” National Engineering Handbook, 633(26).
Vaughan, P. R., and Soares, H. F. (1982). “Design of filters for clay cores of dams.” J. Geotech. Eng. Div., Am. Soc. Civ. Eng., 108(1), 17–31.
Wolski, W., (1965). “Model tests on the seepage erosion in the silty clay core of an earth dam.” Proc., 6th Int. Conf. on Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, 583–587.
Zaslavsky, D., and Kassiff, G. (1965). “Formulation of piping mechanism in cohesive soils.” Geotechnique, 15(3), 305–316.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 132 • Issue 7 • July 2006
Pages: 879 - 889
Copyright
© 2006 ASCE.
History
Received: Mar 16, 2004
Accepted: Jan 4, 2006
Published online: Jul 1, 2006
Published in print: Jul 2006
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.