Journal
JOURNAL OF GEOTECHNICAL AND GEOENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
Volume 145, Issue 5, Pages -Publisher
ASCE-AMER SOC CIVIL ENGINEERS
DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)GT.1943-5606.0002040
Keywords
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Funding
- Australian Research Council [LP110100389]
- University of New SouthWales
- Department of Public Works
- Dam Safety Committee of New South Wales
- Murray Darling Basin Authority
- Water Corporation
- TasWater
- Hydro Tasmania
- Melbourne Water
- Goulburn-Murray Water
- SunWater
- AECOM
- GHD
- SMEC Australia
- Elforsk
- Australian Research Council [LP110100389] Funding Source: Australian Research Council
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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. (C) 2019 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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