Examining the impact of the inter-coarse void ratio (ICVR) on suffusion susceptibility and erosion prediction model

Abstract

Suffusion, one of the primary types of internal erosion, preferentially erodes fine grains inside the skeleton of coarse particles due to interstitial permeability. The occurrence of suffusion damages earthen dams and affects the living environment around these structures. To avoid the effect of suffusion, many previous studies in the literature have investigated physical parameters influencing suffusion triggers or predicted suffusion potential. Yet, the precise impact of physical parameters, namely the inter-coarse void ratio (ICVR), on suffusion susceptibility was not considered. Thus, the crucial objectives of this article are devoted to investigating the effects of ICVR on suffusion susceptibility. The results show that suffusion susceptibility decreases until the minimum value at ICVR is 1.1 before increasing again. In addition, models for erosion prediction were proposed based on two physical parameters: ICVR and grain size distribution, which are easily determined in the laboratory.