Numerical study of breaching at upper parts of homogenous earthen dams

Abstract

In this study, time-dependent finite element analyses of the breaching process in two homogenous earth-fill dams were performed using the finite element method. Breaching was initiated at the middle and corner sections of the upper part of the dam bodies. The numerical results were compared with the findings of the experiments realized on dams 60 cm high, 2 m wide at bottom, 20 cm wide at crest with 1 V:1.5H side slopes at upstream and downstream faces. This numerical study combines time-dependent hydraulic gradient distributions and groundwater flows to assess breach areas, velocities, and flow rates. A Python algorithm was integrated with the Jupyter console, allowing the simulation of the breach mechanism in multiple runs to determine breach parameters. Both numerical and experimental analyses revealed that the dams were exposed to backward erosion, starting at the downstream side of the dam and progressing inward. The compatibility between experimental and numerical results was sought by means of the parameters RMSE, MAE and the statistical performance of the numerical approach was evaluated by using RSR, NSE, and PBIAS. A fairly good agreement was obtained between the experimental and numerical results.