Temporal evolution of backward erosion piping in small-scale experiments

Temporal evolution of backward erosion piping in small-scale experiments

Pol, J.C. (TU Delft Hydraulic Structures and Flood Risk; HKV Lijn in Water)
Kanning, W. (TU Delft Hydraulic Structures and Flood Risk; Deltares)
van Beek, Vera M. (Deltares)
Robbins, Bryant A. (U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center; Colorado School of Mines)
Jonkman, Sebastiaan N. (TU Delft Hydraulic Structures and Flood Risk)

2022

Backward erosion piping (BEP) is a form of internal erosion which can lead to failure of levees and dams. Most research focused on the critical head difference at which piping failure occurs. Two aspects have received less attention, namely (1) the temporal evolution of piping and (2) the local hydraulic conditions in the pipe and at the pipe tip. We present small-scale experiments with local pressure measurements in the pipe during equilibrium and pipe progression for different sands and degrees of hydraulic loading. The experiments confirm a positive relation between progression rate and grain size as well as the degree of hydraulic overloading. Furthermore, the analysis of local hydraulic conditions shows that the rate of BEP progression can be better explained by the bed shear stress and sediment transport in the pipe than by the seepage velocity at the pipe tip. The experiments show how different processes contribute to the piping process and these insights provide a first empirical basis for modeling pipe development using coupled seepage-sediment transport equations.

Backward erosion piping
Dams
Experiments
Laminar sediment transport
Levees
Progression rate

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:275d8b31-f51b-4d79-a3ef-b4aff4123d91

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11440-022-01545-1

1861-1125

Acta Geotechnica, 17 (10), 4555-4576

Institutional Repository

journal article

© 2022 J.C. Pol, W. Kanning, Vera M. van Beek, Bryant A. Robbins, Sebastiaan N. Jonkman