Influence of a permeable sand layer on the mechanism of backward erosion piping using 3D pipe depth measurements

Backward erosion piping (BEP) poses a threat to the stability of water-retaining structures. This can lead to severe erosion and collapse of embankments. A novel economically appealing measure against BEP is the coarse sand barrier (CSB). The CSB is a trench filled with coarse sand that is placed below the blanket layer on the landward side of the embankment, which prevents the pipe from developing upstream when it encounters the CSB. Inclusion of a CSB creates a vertically layered sand, which is the situation that can also exist in practice but is different from traditional BEP tests with one homogeneous sand. This paper presents new observations and measurements in medium-scale laboratory tests. 3D measurements of the pipe depth and dimensions are presented and analysed. This analysis indicates how the pipe dimensions evolve during the piping process and shows the erosion mechanism for BEP in vertically layered sands. The findings demonstrate the significance of three-dimensional study of the pipe rather than two dimensions. The pipe depth, width and depth-to-width ratios at the pipe tip in critical erosion stages are measured and presented. In the presented tests, two different erosion behaviours (stepwise pipe progression until failure and straight failure) are found and analysed with respect to possible influential parameters. Higher head drops and flow rates are found in tests with straight failure at the stage before progression. A linear relationship between the hydraulic conductivity contrast (k_c) and the critical head drops (h_c) is found and observations are used to investigate deviations from the line.

     

Use of incipient motion data for backward erosion piping models

Backward erosion piping involves the gradual removal of granular material under the action of water flow from the foundation of a dam or levee, whereby shallow pipes are formed that grow in the direction opposite to the flow. This pipe-forming process can ultimately lead to failure of a water-retaining structure and is considered one of the most important failure mechanisms for dikes and levees in the Netherlands and the United States. Modeling of this mechanism requires the assessment of hydraulic conditions in the pipe, which are controlled by the particle equilibrium at the pipe wall. Since the pipe's dimensions are controlled by the inflow to the pipe from the porous medium, the flow through the pipe is thought to be laminar for fine- to medium-grained sands. The literature provides data for incipient motion in laminar flow, which is reviewed here and complemented with data from backward erosion experiments. The experiments illustrate the applicability of the laminar incipient motion data to determine the erosion pipe dimensions and corresponding pipe hydraulics for fine- to medium-grained sands, for the purpose of backward erosion piping modeling.     

Analysis of development and depth of backward erosion pipes in the presence of a coarse sand barrier

Backward erosion piping (BEP) is a failure mechanism that can affect the safety of water-retaining structures. It can occur when a local anomaly on the downstream side of an embankment causes a concentration of seepage flow at that location. Shallow pipes may then form, progressing in the upstream direction and leading to a collapse of the water-retaining structure. A novel and economically appealing measure against BEP is the coarse sand barrier (CSB), which is now being developed in a multiscale experimental programme in the Netherlands. The method involves placing a trench filled with coarse sand below the blanket layer on the downstream side of the embankment. The CSB prevents the upstream progression of the pipe and significantly enhances resistance to BEP. This paper presents medium-scale laboratory tests involving a range of sands, barrier depths and relative densities. The piping process and the observations of pipe progression in the presence of a CSB are presented, followed by a conceptual model. The presence of a CSB changed the erosion pattern. It resulted in pipe formation perpendicular to the flow direction over the entire width of the barrier before the barrier was damaged. The findings also demonstrate the effect of material properties on pipe initiation, progression and pipe depth. Measurements of the pipe depth are presented and analysed, revealing the significance of pipe depth for understanding the piping process. This analysis shows considerable erosion in the downstream background sand and demonstrates that erosion profiles and measured pipe depths are significantly larger than in BEP tests without a CSB.

     

Analytical model for the beam action of a tunnel lining during construction

Measurements on a 14.5‐m diameter bored tunnel have shown that the mechanised assembly of a segmented tunnel lining results in a permanent longitudinal bending moment in the tunnel lining. An analytical model for the beam action of the tunnel lining during the construction phase of bored tunnels is presented. The model incorporates many of the essentials in staged beam construction. It takes into account the influence of forces from the TBM, the loading of the tunnel lining by the grout in the liquid phase, and linear elastic properties of the tunnel lining and soil. Calculations are compared with measurements at the Groene Hart Tunnel (GHT), 20 km south of Amsterdam: the bending moment curve and vertical inclination of tunnel lining segments were compared. The measured bending moment curve is well reproduced. The measured vertical inclination of the lining segments is found to be governed by the beam action of the tunnel lining plus the influence of shear force in the lining. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The effect of relative density on the response of sand to internal fluidization

Acta Geotechnica - Fluidization, in the geotechnical engineering context, is a failure mechanism that can occur during piping, leakage in distribution pipes or leakage through the sheet pile walls...     

Analysis of the pipe depth development in small-scale backward erosion piping experiments

Acta Geotechnica - Backward erosion piping is an important failure mechanism for water-retaining structures. It results in the formation of shallow pipes at the interface of a sandy or silty...     

Elastic analysis of ground movements around a tunnel considering a buoyant lining moving upwards

A complex variable solution is derived for the ground movements around a tunnel considering the lining at different positions in the drilled hole in a linear elastic half-plane. The soil displacements for three different convergence patterns are presented and compared. It is shown that the surface settlement trough will become flatter and wider when the lining moves upwards; the horizontal displacements are more concentrated in the region below the lining; and the region influenced by displacements is wider. Most calculated settlement troughs can be well represented by Gaussian curves with simple parameters, but the obtained width parameters are larger than the traditional empirical values. The rigorous solution can be used as a simple tool to understand the fundamental mechanism of the lining buoyancy problem and as a benchmark for numerical procedures based on more sophisticated models. The importance of buoyancy effect on the displacement field should be taken into account.     

The effect of sudden critical and supercritical hydraulic loads on backward erosion piping: small-scale experiments

Acta Geotechnica - Backward erosion piping is an important failure mechanism for cohesive water-retaining structures which are founded on a sandy aquifer. This paper studies the effect of the...