The influence of drain pipe location and diameter on seepage through an earth dam

Abstract

Earth dams are built for various reasons these including storage of water, regulation of water flow, prevention of flooding, and the generation of hydroelectric power. The drain pipes within an earth dam, are considered one of the more important control devices used to reduce the effects of problems caused by seepage. As such, the role of drain pipes against seepage problems in an earth dam, has been studied numerically in this investigation. The effects of drain pipe location and their diameters (50, 75, 100, and 150 mm), were examined using different hydraulic heads. The analysis focuses on the characteristics of relative seepage flow, exit gradient, and factor of safety regarding sliding. A range of models of typical earth dams, with and without drain pipes, have been simulated using Geo-Studio software in SEEP/W and SLOPE/W applications, examining more than 200 different cases. By using the data computed from numerical models, new formulas for predicting the seepage parameters and factors of safety were developed in this study by using the multiple non-linear regression (NLR) approaches. The findings show that the presence of a drain pipe reduces seepage flow and the exit gradient, at the same time increasing the factor of safety. Regarding pipe diameter, the rate of seepage and exit gradient decreased while the factor of safety increased as the diameter of the pipe increased. The factor of safety increased by between 11 and 25% when the drain pipe was placed in an optimal position, allowing for a reduction in seepage flow and exit gradient.