Comprehensive analysis on seepage and structural stability of earth-rock dam

been widely accepted that the analysis on structural and seepage stability plays a very important
role, and it is necessary to take into account while designing the earth-rock dam. In performing the
analysis of structural and seepage stability, many remarkable methods are available at current
stage. However, there are still some important issues remaining unsolved, including: (1) Finite
element methods (FEMs) is a means of solutions to analysis seepage process, but it is often a
difficult task to determine the so-called seepage coefficient, because the common-used water
injection test is limited in the practical work due to the high cost and complex procedure. (2) It has
long been discussed that the key parameters for structural stability analysis show a significant
spatial and temporal variations. It may be partly explained by the inhomogeneous dam-filling during construction work and the developing seepage process. The consequence is that one constant value of the parameter cannot represent the above variations. In this context, we solve the above issues and introduce the solution with a practical earth-rock dam project. For determining the seepage coefficient, the data from the piezo metric tube is used to calculate the potential value, based on which the seepage coefficient can be back-analysed. Then the seepage field, as well as the seepage stability are numerically analysed using the FEM-based SEEP/W program. As to the structural safety, we take into account the spatial and temporal variations of the key parameters, and incorporate the Monte-Carlo simulation method into the commonly used M-P method to calculate the frequency distribution of the obtained structural safety factor. In this way, the structural and seepage safety can be well analysed. This study is also beneficial to provide a
mature method and a theoretical insight into the earth-rock dam design. The earth-rock dam of
Xiquanyan Reservoir near Harbin city in China is also selected as case study to illustrate the
described method.