Finite-volume coupled surface-subsurface flow modelling in earth dikes

Abstract

AbstractEarthen embankments are subjected to increasing threats because of climate change inducing sequences of severe drought periods followed by floods, possibly leading to overtopping of the structures. Consequently, the water saturation of the dike can vary significantly both in space and time, and the resulting groundwater flow can affect the free-surface flow in case of overtopping. Conversely, the free-surface flow can modify the pore water content, which controls erosion and slope instabilities. In this paper, a combined approach to such situations is presented, in which the degree of saturation and the flow through the embankment are simulated by solving the two-dimensional Richards equation on an unstructured mesh with an implicit finite volume scheme that is coupled to the system of shallow-water equations solved in one dimension using an explicit finite-volume scheme. The coupled model is validated on several situations of flows through and over earthen embankments with different constitutive materials.Keywords: Embankmentfinite volumenumerical simulationovertopping flowsRichards equationshallow-water equations Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).