Comparison of the Evolutions of Internal Erosion When Seepage Is at Top, Bottom or Middle Part of the Homogeneous Earth-Fill Dam Built With Fine Sand and Clay Mixture

Abstract

One of the most prominent failure reasons for earth-fill dams is internal erosion resulting from piping. This failure mode may cause irreversible weakened structural integrity, loss of properties, and even loss of lives. Therefore, it is important to understand the breaching process due to piping by providing reliable data for the decision-makers in case of emergency. This study was supported by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey with project number 119M609 and involves experimental investigation on piping under three different weak zone scenarios to examine the breach process and provide the data for more realistic numerical evaluations. The experiments were conducted in the hydraulic laboratory of Izmir University of Economics and Dokuz Eylul University. The initiation of piping was triggered from seepage in weak layers at the bottom, middle, and upper parts, along the centerline of homogenous earth-fill dams in a rectangular flume. As a result of the experiments, the magnitude of the peak discharges and their durations as well as the eroded breach areas were found to be affected by the locations of the seepage and initial water heads acting on the weak zones. Also, in the experiments, at the beginning of the breaching, initial cascading surface flow resulted in sheet and rill erosion. © 2024 ISHS. All Rights Reserved.