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Lecturer, Department of Building and Construction Technologies Engineering, Faculty of Technical, Al-Furat Al-Awsat Technical University, Najaf, Iraq
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Assistant Lecturer, Department of Building and Construction Technologies Engineering, Al-Furat Al-Awsat Technical University, Najaf, Iraq
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Assistant Lecturer, Department of Building and Construction Technologies Engineering, Al-Furat Al-Awsat Technical University, Najaf, Iraq
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Assistant Lecturer, Department of Communications Engineering Techniques, Faculty of Technical, Al-Furat Al-Awsat Technical University, Najaf, Iraq
Assistant Lecturer, Department of Building and Construction Technologies Engineering, Al-Furat Al-Awsat Technical University, Najaf, Iraq
Seepage through concrete dams plays an important role in the stability of the foundations due to the fact that high uplift pressures and exit gradients can cause piping, erosion, and ultimately the collapse of the structure. This research focuses on the effect of the position and the depth of the sheet piles on seepage in concrete dams employing a numerical method based on the finite element theory. The seepage model for the two-dimensional case was created by employing the software GeoStudio SEEP/W for investigating various placements of sheet piles for the steady-state flow problem. Three different situations of the dam foundations have been taken into account: without any sheet piles, with one sheet pile, and with double sheet piles. In total, 105 numerical simulations have been conducted to investigate the effect of the depth ratio and the location ratio of the sheet piles on exit gradient and uplift pressure distribution. The lowest value of the exit gradient was achieved by placing the sheet pile at the downstream end of the dam foundation with a penetration depth of about 60% of the foundation width. The minimum value of uplift pressure below the dam body was achieved by placing a single sheet pile at the upstream end with a small penetration depth ( ). Conversely, increasing the depth of a downstream sheet pile acts as a barrier that blocks the flow, thereby increasing the uplift pressure distribution beneath the main dam foundation. In the case of double sheet piles, the results showed that equal penetration depths yielded higher exit gradients than those with unequal depths. It is clear from the results presented that proper placement of sheet piles is very important in reducing seepage, hence ensuring the safety of the dam foundation.
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