Open AccessExperimental and numerical study of upstream slope stability in an earth dam reservoir under rapid drawdown conditions
Author(s) -
Seyed Habib Mousavi Jahromi,
Mansour Pakmanesh,
Amir Khosrojerdi,
Hossein Hassanpour Darvishi,
Hossein Babazadeh
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
innovaciencia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2346-075X
DOI - 10.15649/2346075x.1006
Subject(s) - drawdown (hydrology) , petroleum seep , geotechnical engineering , geology , water level , hydraulic conductivity , drainage , slope stability , slope stability analysis , pore water pressure , environmental science , groundwater , aquifer , soil science , soil water , ecology , cartography , methane , geography , biology
The rapid drawdown of the dam reservoir is one of the most common situations occurring in the lifetime of a dam. For this reason, one of the main factors in the design of the upstream slope is the rapid drainage of the reservoir. In this case, the upstream slope is in a critical condition and the slope may be unstable. When the water surface in the reservoir is drawdown suddenly, the water level in the dam body does not decrease at the same time as the reservoir water level. The analysis of seepage from the earth dam body and calculation of the water loss play an important role in calculating the amount of pore water pressure, and, consequently, the stability analysis of the dam body. In addition, any seepage analysis is dependent on the hydraulic properties of the dam materials. In order to investigate the effect of hydraulic conductivity on the rapid drawdown of water level and the seepage, an experimental model was constructed of an earth dam. By accurate measurement of hydraulic parameters of the materials in saturated and unsaturated media, the flow through this model was modeled using a disk penetrometer by seep/w software. The results were then compared with the observed data.