The effect of interactions between failure mechanisms on the reliability of flood defenses

Structural reliability analysis often considers failure mechanisms as correlated but non-interacting processes. Interacting failure mechanisms affect each others performance, and thereby the system reliability. We describe such interactions in the context of flood defenses, and analyze under which conditions such interactions have a large impact...

Temporal evolution of backward erosion piping in small-scale experiments

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...

Progression rate of backward erosion piping in laboratory experiments and reliability analysis

Backward erosion piping is an important failure mode of dikes and dams. The time required for the backward erosion process to result in dike failure is expected to be an important factor in the safety of dikes. This holds especially in coastal and estuarine areas which are dominated by storm surge, and pipes may not fully develop during a storm....

Advances in reliability analysis of the piping failure mechanism of flood defences in the Netherlands

Piping is one of the main failure mechanisms for flood defences. This paper gives an overview of recent developments in the reliability analysis for this mechanism in the Netherlands. These comprise new approaches in the treatment of heterogeneity of the subsoil with respect to the failure process, the inclusion of information from field...