Effect of unsaturated soil on deterministic and probabilistic analysis of the stability of an earth dam in steady state (case study: Seydon dam – Iran)

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Khatam Al-Anbia University of Technology, Behbahan

2 Associate Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Khatam Al Anbia Behbahan University of Technology

Abstract

Various factors influence the stability and flow rate of earth dams, including geometric characteristics, material permeability, and upstream water height. Understanding unsaturated soil behavior in earth dams is crucial, necessitating the application of unsaturated soil mechanics principles due to the complexities involved. Ignoring uncertainties in geotechnical studies can lead to inaccurate safety factor estimations for dam slope stability. In this research, the effect of unsaturated soil on the seepage discharge value and the safety factor of stability downstream of the earth dam under different conditions has been studied. For this, the Seydon Dam in Khuzestan province in Iran has been studied. The results show that considering the soil of the dam body as a saturated-unsaturated model reduces the calculated flow rate passing through the dam and increases the safety factor of the downstream slope in probabilistic and deterministic analysis. Also, sensitivity analysis shows that the parameters of the earth dam shell have the greatest effect on the stability of the downstream slope. The results of the spatial variation analysis show that considering the spatial changes for the soil parameters will reduce the safety factor of the slope downstream of the dam compared to the normal state.

Keywords

Main Subjects

Irrigation Sciences and Engineering

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 21 October 2024

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History

  • Receive Date: 07 July 2024
  • Revise Date: 19 October 2024
  • Accept Date: 21 October 2024
  • Publish Date: 21 October 2024

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