Prediction of Earth Dam Seepage Using a Transient Thermal Finite Element Model

With the majority of United States Department Agriculture-Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA-NRCS)-sponsored earthen dams exceeding their planned service life, seepage is a concern since it common failure mechanism among as whole. Seepage occurs when water penetrates hydraulic barrier to create open pathways, channels, or piping leading internal erosion stability issues due increased effective stress. Due complex geometries these structures, time-dependent boundary conditions, and complicated analyses, numerical approaches have been used estimate seepage. However, existing models are either computationally expensive assume steady-state conditions. This work develops framework for using transient thermal finite element analysis (FEA) model an analogy predict The FEA compared analytical verify approach. A sensitivity shows that time aspect flow dependent on medium, i.e., soil, not fluid properties.