Numerical analysis on seepage failures of dike due to water level-up and rainfall using a water–soil-coupled smoothed particle hydrodynamics model

Abstract

For seepage failures of dike due to water level-up and rainfall, surface infiltration and strength change induced by suction reduction are important factors; thus, numerical analysis should consider the coupling of water and soil, as well as the effect of saturation to obtain more precise failure mechanism. Based on the advanced smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) method, this work proposed a two-phase-coupled SPH model in coordination with a novel constitutive model for unsaturated soils. Then, a triaxial compression test is simulated to check the applicability of the SPH method on the soil phase. After that, the failure test of a dike due to water level-up is discretized and simulated, from which the seepage process, the distribution of maximum shear strain, the slip surface, and pore water pressure are obtained. The two-phase-coupled SPH model is also applied to a slope failure test of heavy rainfall, and the results are compared to the model test. Finally, a dike failure test due to rainfall is analyzed using the proposed SPH model to reproduce the surface infiltration and suction reduction. The proposed SPH model provides several insights of seepage failures and can be a helpful tool for the analysis of dike failures induced by water level-up and rainfall.