土体渗透稳定性判定准则

土体的渗透稳定性是指在渗流条件下宽级配土体内粗颗粒阻止细颗粒流失的能力,土体的渗透稳定性受几何条件、水力条件和物理条件的影响。从几何条件出发,通过对收集的167种土的室内渗透侵蚀试验结果的分析,基于对土体渗透稳定性控制变量地研究,将土分成良好级配土和间断级配土两大类;基于细粒（小于0.063 mm）含量的不同,将每类土又细分为3类,针对不同细类土提出了不同的渗透稳定性几何判定准则。从水力条件出发,研究了应力状态对土体渗透侵蚀起动及破坏水力梯度的影响。试验结果表明,起动水力梯度和破坏水力梯度都随着围压的增大而增大,是由于增大围压使得颗粒间的摩擦力增大的结果。     

Three-dimensional DEM modeling of the stress–strain behavior for the gap-graded soils subjected to internal erosion

In this work, 3D discrete element method modeling of drained shearing tests with gap-graded soils after internal erosion is carried out based on published experimental results. The erosion in the model is achieved by randomly deleting fine particles, mimicking the salt dissolving process in the experiments. The present model successfully simulates the stress–strain behavior of the physical test by employing the roll resistance and lateral membrane. The case without erosion shows a strain-softening and dilative response, while strain-hardening and contractive response starts to occur as the degree of erosion increases. The dilative to contractive transition is mainly caused by the increase in void ratio due to the loss of fine particles. The change from dilative behavior to contractive behavior is more abrupt for the specimen with larger fine particle percentage because the soil skeleton is mainly controlled by the fine particles instead of by the coarse soil particles. The transition from “fines in sand” to “sand in fines” might be associated with the rapid increasing in the contacts associated with fine particles in the specimen as the percentage of fine content increases. The erosion scenario based on the hydraulic gradient is also modeled by deleting the fine particles based on the ranking of the contact force. Compared with the scenario based on random deletion, the remaining fine particles for the erosion scenario based on the ranking of contact force are more dispersedly distributed, which might benefit the small strain stiffness but result in a smaller strength. This work provides some insights for better understanding the mechanism behind the internal erosion and the associated stress–strain behavior of soil. The gradient of the critical state line increases with more loss of fine particles denoting that the fine particles are helpful for holding the structure of the soils from larger deformation.

     

Evaluation of hydraulic conductivity of gap-graded granular soils based on equivalent void ratio concept

Gap-graded granular soils are used as construction materials worldwide, and their hydraulic conductivity depends on their relative content of coarse and fine grains, initial conditions, and particle shape. In this study, a series of constant head hydraulic conductivity tests were performed on gap-graded granular soils with different initial relative densities, fine contents, and particle shapes. The test results show that the hydraulic conductivity decreases with an increase in fine fraction and then remains approximately constant beyond the “transitional fine content.” The role of the structural effect on the hydraulic conductivity is different from that on the mechanical properties (such as stiffness and shear strength). This can be attributed to the degree of filling within inter-aggregate voids, disturbance of soil structure, and densified fine bridges between coarse aggregates. The equivalent void ratio concept was introduced into the Kozeny–Carman formula to capture the effect of fines (aggregates) on the “coarse-dominated” (“fine-dominated”) structure, and a simple model is proposed to capture the change of hydraulic conductivity of gap-granular soils. The model incorporates a structural variable to capture the effect of fines on “coarse-dominated” structure and coarse aggregates on “fine-dominated” structure. The performance of the model was verified with experimental data from this study and previously reported data compiled from the literature. The results reveal that the proposed model is simple yet effective at capturing the hydraulic conductivity of gap-graded granular soils with a wide range of fine contents, initial conditions, and particle shapes.

     

缺级粗粒土管涌类型的判别方法

利用大型渗透变形仪,对不同最大粒径和细粒含量的缺级粗粒土的渗透破坏特性进行了系统的试验研究。研究结果表明,缺级粗粒土在细料含量小于30 %的情况下都发生管涌型渗透破坏,基本符合前人提出的判别流土和管涌的准则。管涌破坏的类型可划分为发展性管涌和非发展性管涌两种,采用刘杰和康德拉且夫对发展性和非发展性管涌的判别方法都不能区分本次试验的管涌破坏类型。在康德拉且夫提出的判别粗粒土管涌类型的方法的基础上,考虑细料对粗料孔隙的填充程度及试样中缺级颗粒百分含量的影响,建立了缺级粗粒土管涌类型的判别式,为缺级粗粒土管涌类型的判别提供了新的思路和方法。     

Micromechanical assessment of an internal stability criterion

The internal stability of a soil is a measure of its susceptibility to suffusion and suffosion, two forms of internal erosion. The internal stability of granular filters must be carefully considered when designing new embankment dams and assessing the risk associated with existing embankment dams. Current guidelines for assessing the internal stability of such filters were empirically derived from macroscale observations and consider the shape of the particle-size distribution curve. These guidelines lack a fundamental, scientific micromechanical basis. The initiation and propagation of internal erosion is clearly a particle-scale phenomenon, and this paper applies particulate mechanics to provide a micromechanical justification for one currently used stability criterion. The study used discrete element simulations of idealised virtual soil samples that had various degrees of internal stability when assessed using the criterion proposed by Kézdi [10]. The internal topologies of stable and unstable samples were analysed by considering the distributions of inter-particle contact forces, the number of particle–particle contacts and the average particle stresses. Clear correlations are observed between the filter stability criterion and the average number of contacts per particle and the probability that a given particle participates in stress transmission. The phenomenon of a critical fines content, at which the existing guidelines are no longer considered to be valid, is also considered.     

无纺土工织物保土应用中的概率设计准则

保土准则是土工织物反滤准则的重要组成部分,但目前的设计准则保土有余,透水不足。介绍了无纺土工织物的两种孔洞分布曲线,计算了土颗粒透过织物的概率。在理论分析的基础上,提出了一种概率保土准则。该准则对土体中的骨架颗粒和小颗粒透过织物的概率分别加以限制,既能保持土体稳定,又能防止淤堵。     

Influence of relative density of the granular base soil on filter performance

Perpendicular contact erosion due to poorly designed filters is a frequent hazard for water-retaining structures serving as lifeblood to the community. This phenomenon occurs when the fine particles of a base soil at the contact interface with a coarser material are detached and transported through pores formed by the coarse particles. Therefore, most filter design criteria focus on the gradation of coarse particles or the gradation of pore constrictions. Meanwhile, the parameters of the base soil, such as relative density, are often overlooked. On the one hand, some experts neglect the impact of relative density because perpendicular contact erosion occurs at the interface, where fine particles expose themselves to larger pores. On the other hand, it is a general belief that the more compacted a base soil is, the less susceptible it will be to erosion as the seepage is reduced. This paper discusses this dilemma from a mutual perspective which assesses the influence of relative density from experimental, numerical, and analytical standpoints. The experimental study reveals that there is an optimal relative density which will release the least eroded mass. The influence is crucial as it can change the status of stability to unstable. The physical essence of the phenomenon is expressed by a numerical study at the micro-scale, which investigates the redistribution of flow lines and stress resulting from a particle detachment. The discovery at the micro-scale is confirmed by an analytical evaluation at the macro-scale, which assesses the redistribution of pore constrictions.

     

Hierarchical multiscale numerical modelling of internal erosion with discrete and finite elements

This paper presents a coupled finite and discrete-element model (FEM and DEM) to simulate internal erosion. The model is based on ICY, an interface between COMSOL, an FEM engine, and YADE, a DEM code. With this model, smaller DEM subdomains are generated to simulate particle displacements at the grain scale. Particles in these small subdomains are subjected to buoyancy, gravity, drag and contact forces for short time steps (0.1 s). The DEM subdomains provide the macroscale (continuum) model with a particle flux distribution. Through a mass conservation equation, the flux distribution allows changes in porosity, hydraulic conductivity and hydraulic gradient to be evaluated for the same time steps at a larger, continuum scale. The updated hydraulic gradients from the continuum model provide the DEM subdomains with updated hydrodynamic forces based on a coarse-grid method. The number of particles in the DEM subdomains is also updated based on the new porosity distribution. The hierarchical multiscale model (HMM) was validated with the simulation of suffusion. Results for the proposed HMM algorithm are consistent with results based on a DEM model incorporating the full sample and simulation duration. The proposed HMM algorithm could enable the modelling of internal erosion for soil volumes that are too large to be modelled with a single DEM subdomain.

     

Hydro-mechanical coupled analysis of near-wellbore fines migration from unconsolidated reservoirs

Oil or gas production from unconsolidated reservoirs could be hampered by sand migration near the wellbore. This paper presents a numerical investigation of production-induced migration of fine sands towards a wellbore drilled in a gap-graded sediment. The solid–fluid interaction is simulated by coupling the discrete element method and the dynamic fluid mesh. With the merit of DEM and a dynamic mesh, the model is capable of naturally capturing particle movements and spatiotemporal variations of hydraulic properties of the sediment at the pore scale. The results show that fine particles are mobilized by radial flow under an imposed hydraulic gradient, and the increase in the hydraulic gradient causes an increase in the fines production. The microscopic pattern of sand migration is clearly visualized through the simulation. The presence of fine particles affects the process of fines migration through two competing mechanisms. Under a low fine content, fine sands mainly serve as the fines production source, and thus, fines production is enhanced as the fine content increases up to a critical value, beyond which fines production is weakened with a further increase in the fine content since the blocking effect gradually dominates. A barrier layer is likely formed during sand migration due to settling and jamming of fine sands at the throats of pores, as fine sands migrate with the radial flow towards the wellbore. This layer is helpful to slow down sand migration, while it could impede production due to reduced permeability in the affected reservoir.

     

Experimental investigation of microstructural changes in soils eroded by suffusion using X-ray tomography

Internal erosion is a complex phenomenon which represents one of the main risks to the safety of earthen hydraulic structures such as embankment dams, dikes or levees. Its occurrence may cause instability and failure of these structures with consequences that can be dramatic. The specific mode of erosion by suffusion is the one characterized by seepage flow-induced erosion, and the subsequent migration of the finest soil particles through the surrounding soil matrix mostly constituted of large grains. Such a phenomenon can lead to a modification of the initial microstructure and, hence, to a change in the physical, hydraulic and mechanical properties of the soil. A direct comparison of the mechanical behaviour of soil before and after erosion is often used to investigate the impact of internal erosion on soil strength (shear strength at peak and critical state) using triaxial tests. However, the obtained results are somehow contradictory, as for instance in Chang’s study (Chang and Zhang in Geotech Test J 34(6):579–589, 2011), where it is concluded that the drained strength of eroded soil decreases compared to non-eroded soil, while both Xiao and Shwiyhat (Geotech Test J 35(6):890–900, 2012) and Ke and Takahashi (Geotech Test J 37(2):347–364, 2014) have come to the opposite conclusion. A plausible explanation of these contradictions might be attributed to the rather heterogeneous nature of the suffusion process and to the way the coarse and fine grains are rearranged afterwards leading to a heterogeneous soil structure, a point that, for now, is not taken into account, nor even mentioned, in the existing analyses. In the present study, X-ray computed tomography (X-ray CT) is used to follow the microstructure evolution of a granular soil during a suffusion test, and, therefore, to capture the induced microstructural changes. The images obtained from X-ray CT reveal indeed that fine particles erosion is obviously not homogeneous, highlighting the existence of preferential flow paths that lead to a heterogeneous sample in terms of fine particles, void ratio and inter-granular void ratio distribution.

     

高铁路基粗颗粒土水力学参数测试方法研究

高铁路基粗颗粒土的水力学特性对路基内部水分运移及路基的长期累积变形有重要影响。而对这种高压实度的粗颗粒土,常规非饱和土试验仪器存在试样尺寸小、制样难度大的缺点,难以应用。介绍了一种用于测试高压实度路基粗颗粒土-水力学参数的试验装置,利用张力计和时域反射计量器,分别测量路基粗颗粒土在浸湿、干燥阶段不同高度处土体基质吸力、介电常数的变化情况,获得高压实度下高铁路基粗颗粒土土-水特征曲线;并通过瞬态剖面法获得路基粗颗粒土非饱和渗透系数与基质吸力的关系。试验结果表明,该套装置能够适用于最大粒径为20 mm的粗颗粒土,试样压实度最大可达到0.95。通过对一组试验结果分析,并结合Ekblad等试验结果,发现随着填料细颗粒含量增大,?（与进气值有关的参数）值逐渐减小,土体进气值增加;粒径越大,细颗粒含量越低,土体储水能力越低,对应n（与排水程度有关的参数）值越大。为路基粗颗粒土-水力学参数的测定提供了方法。     

Discrete numerical modeling of particle transport in granular filters

Granular filters are an essential component in earth dams to protect the dam core from seepage erosion. This paper uses the particle flow method (PFM) to study the mechanism of particle transport in a base soil–filter system. The distributions of the eroded base-soil particles in different filters are traced and analyzed. The eroded mass and intruding depth of the eroded particles into the filters are obtained under different times and hydraulic gradients. The simulation results show that the eroded mass and intruding depth of the base-soil particles into the filter are related to the representative particle size ratio of the base soil to the filter, hydraulic gradient and erosion time. The numerical predictions are also compared with the empirical filter design criterion. The results show that the particle flow model provides an effective approach for studying the filtration micro-property and the erosion mechanism in a base soil–filter system, which is useful for filter design.     

Experiments on internal erosion in sandy gravel foundations containing a suspended cutoff wall under complex stress states

Internal erosion is one of the most common failure modes of embankment dams or foundations, and the simplest and most effective preventive measure is to build a cutoff wall. The soil at the bottom of the cutoff wall is usually under complex stress states. The deeper the cutoff wall, the higher is the stress. In this study, the effects of stress conditions on the evolution of internal erosion were investigated in sandy gravel foundations containing a suspended cutoff wall using a newly developed stress-controlled erosion apparatus. Three series of erosion tests were conducted on gap-graded soil under different confining stresses, different deviatoric stresses, and different confining and deviatoric stresses. The results of these tests are as follows: (1) The discharge and permeability decrease with an increase in the confining stress, but the critical hydraulic gradient increases. (2) In the second series of erosion tests, the specimen is compressed under low deviatoric stress; the specimen undergoes shear expansion under high deviatoric stress. (3) In the third series of erosion tests, the confining and deviatoric stresses synchronously change, and therefore, their combined effect on the evolution of internal erosion is complicated. Under low stress, the soil is compressed in the early stage of the experiment, and its structure may change during internal erosion. When the stress level is high, the specimen also undergoes shear expansion, and the degree of expansion is controlled by both confining and deviatoric stresses.     

Investigation of slope instability induced by seepage and erosion by a particle method

A novel particle based Bluff Morphology Model (BMM) developed by the authors is extended in this paper to investigate the effect of two dimensional seepage on the stability and collapse of soil slopes and levees. To incorporate the seepage in the model, Darcy’s law is applied to the interactions among neighbouring soil particles and ghost particles are introduced along the enclosed soil boundary so that no fluid crosses the boundary. The contribution of partially saturated soils and matric suction, as well as the change in hydraulic conductivity due to seepage, are predicted well by the present model. The predicted time evolution of slope stability and seepage induced collapse are in reasonable agreement with the experimental results for homogeneous non-cohesive sand and multiple layered cohesive soils. Rapid drawdown over a sand soil is also investigated, and the location and time of the levee collapse occurrence are well captured. A toe erosion model is incorporated in the BMM model, and the location and quantity of erosion from lateral seepage flow is well predicted. The interplay of erosion, seepage and slope instability is examined.     

Numerical modelling of internal erosion during hydrate dissociation based on multiphase mixture theory

It has been reported that sand production, which is a simultaneous production of soil particles along with gas and water into a production well, forced to terminate the operation during the world's first offshore methane production test from hydrate-bearing sediments in the Eastern Nankai Tough. The sand production is induced by internal erosion, which is the detachment and migration of soil particles from soil skeleton due to seepage flow. The inflow of the eroded soil particles into the production well leads to damage of the production devices. In the present study, a numerical model to predict the chemo-thermo-mechanically coupled behavior including internal erosion during hydrate dissociation has been formulated based on the multiphase mixture theory. In the proposed model, the internal erosion is expressed as mass transition of soil particles from soil skeleton to the fluidized soil particles. Since the internal erosion is considered to depend on the soil particle size, mass of soil particles are divided into several groups that have different representative particle diameters, and the constitutive equations for the onset condition and the mass transition rate of the internal erosion are formulated for each group. Also, transportation of soil particles in the liquid phase is formulated for each particle size group in the proposed model. Finally, a simulation of the methane gas production from the hydrate-bearing sediment by depressurization method is presented, and the internal erosion and the dissociation behavior are discussed.     

A computational procedure to assess the distribution of constriction sizes for an assembly of spheres

The effectiveness of filters to counteract internal erosion in earth structures is particularly related to their ability to capture fine particles moving under seepage flow through the porous material. More precisely, fine particles are likely to be trapped by the narrowest paths between pores: the constrictions. This paper proposes a methodology to compute the constriction size distribution of model granular filters taking into account the relative density of the material. The approach is based upon probabilistic methods which adopt stated simple geometric packing arrangements to represent the solid structure in the extreme density states. Two new models are proposed for the design of the constriction size distribution according to the type of filter grading: continuously graded or gap-graded materials. The models require the usual material characteristics: the grading curve, and the minimum and maximum void ratios for this material. Calibrated on the basis of statistical analyses over numerical assemblies of spheres generated by a discrete element method, the proposed new models constitute a promising tool to significantly improve the modeling of filtration processes in granular materials.     

A coupled CFD-DEM investigation of suffusion of gap graded soil: Coupling effect of confining pressure and fines content

Suffusion involves fine particles migration within the matrix of coarse fraction under seepage flow, which usually occurs in the gap-graded material of dams and levees. Key factors controlling the soil erodibility include confining pressure (p′) and fines content (F_c), of which the coupling effect on suffusion still remains contradictory, as concluded from different studies considering narrow scope of these factors. For this reason, a systematical numerical simulation that considers a relative wide range of p′ and F_c was performed with the coupled discrete element method and computational fluid dynamics approach. Two distinct macroresponses of soil suffusion to p′ were revealed, ie, for a given hydraulic gradient i = 2, an increase in p′ intensifies the suffusion of soil with fines overfilling the voids (eg, F_c = 35%), but have negligible effects on the suffusion of gap-graded soil containing fines underfilling the voids (eg, F_c = 20%). The micromechanical analyses, including force chain buckling and strain energy release, reveal that when the fines overfilled the voids between coarse particles (eg, F_c = 35%) and participated heavily in load-bearing, the erosion of fines under high i could cause the collapse of the original force transmission structure. The release of higher strain energy within samples under higher p′ accelerated particle movement and intensified suffusion. Conversely, in the case where the fines underfilled the voids between coarse particles (eg, F_c = 20%), the selective erosion of fines had little influence on the force network. High p′ in this case prevented suffusion.     

Numerical modelling of fluid-induced soil erosion in granular filters using a coupled bonded particle lattice Boltzmann method

This paper presents a three-dimensional coupled bonded particle and lattice Boltzmann method (BPLBM) with an immersed moving boundary scheme for the fluid-solid interaction. It is then applied to investigate the erosion process of soil particles in granular filters placed within earth dams. The microscopic migration of soil particles can be clearly visualised as the movement of particles can be directly recorded. Three granular filters with different representative size ratios are simulated and the numerical results are seen to match the empirical criteria. In addition, the effect of the representative size ratio of granular filters, hydraulic loading and erosion time are discussed.