TY - JOUR
T1 - Coupled Numerical and Analytical Stability Analysis Charts for an Earth-Fill Dam under Rapid Drawdown Conditions
AU - Azadi, Ali
AU - Esmatkhah Irani, Arash
AU - Azarafza, Mohammad
AU - Hajialilue Bonab, Masoud
AU - Behrooz Sarand, Fariba
AU - Derakhshani, Reza
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors wish to thank the Department of Civil Engineering, University of Tabriz for providing permission to conduct the geotechnical investigations. Also, the authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for providing invaluable review comments and recommendations for improving the scientific level of the article.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2022/5/1
Y1 - 2022/5/1
N2 - The presented article provides a comprehensive study on the stability analysis of earth-fill dams under rapid drawdown and transient flow conditions used to prepare stability analysis charts by conducting coupled finite-element numerical and analytical limit equilibrium procedures. In this regard, the impacts of different rapid drawdown conditions on the safety factor of the Alavian earth-fill dam are determined. The slope stability charts present for both shallow and deep slip surfaces with various permeabilities are verified by ground information obtained with extensive instrumentation on the dam’s site. The results showed that by decreasing the permeability of the core’s material, despite preventing seepage, the instability risk of the upstream slope as a result of rapid drawdown intensifies. Also, as stability charts can be stated, with increasing the slip surface’s depth and decreasing the hydraulic hydration, the reliability decreases, and the sliding surfaces’ sensitivity increases based on the drawdown rates, which have been revealed to be from 0.2 to 0.6, the most critical state for safety factors, showing significant declines
AB - The presented article provides a comprehensive study on the stability analysis of earth-fill dams under rapid drawdown and transient flow conditions used to prepare stability analysis charts by conducting coupled finite-element numerical and analytical limit equilibrium procedures. In this regard, the impacts of different rapid drawdown conditions on the safety factor of the Alavian earth-fill dam are determined. The slope stability charts present for both shallow and deep slip surfaces with various permeabilities are verified by ground information obtained with extensive instrumentation on the dam’s site. The results showed that by decreasing the permeability of the core’s material, despite preventing seepage, the instability risk of the upstream slope as a result of rapid drawdown intensifies. Also, as stability charts can be stated, with increasing the slip surface’s depth and decreasing the hydraulic hydration, the reliability decreases, and the sliding surfaces’ sensitivity increases based on the drawdown rates, which have been revealed to be from 0.2 to 0.6, the most critical state for safety factors, showing significant declines
KW - earth-fill dam
KW - transient flow
KW - rapid drawdown
KW - slope stability
KW - coupled-stability analysis
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85129783882&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/app12094550
DO - 10.3390/app12094550
M3 - Article
SN - 2076-3417
VL - 12
SP - 1
EP - 19
JO - Applied Sciences
JF - Applied Sciences
IS - 9
M1 - 4550
ER -