Civil Engineering Department

College of Engineering

Course: Soil Mechanics

(CE 359)

Lecturer: Dr. Frederick Owusu-Nimo

Fluid flow through soils
(Seepage)
Dam failures due to Seepage
• Idaho, US(June 5,
1976)
• For irrigation and
hydroelectric power
• Water eroded subsoil
beneath dam
• 14 people died
• $1 billion in property
damage

TETON DAM FAILURE

Dam failures due to Seepage
• Georgia, US(Nov 6,
1977)
• For hydroelectric
power
• Piping and progressive
erosion
• 39 people died
• $2.5 million in property
damage
KELLY BARNES DAM
Dam Failures
 Fluid flow through soils
• Objective - Introduction to the flow of water
(seepage) through soils

• Significance - Important to understand the

principles of fluid flow to be able to:
o Determine the rate at which water flows through soil (e.g.
seepage through earth dam)
• It is estimated that more people have lost their lives as a result of
failures of dams and levees due to seepage and ‘piping’ than to all
the other failures of civil engineering works combined

o Determine rate of foundation settlement

o Evaluating the factor of safety of embankments

 Introductory Concepts
• Review of CE 260 and CE 256
o Composition of soil?
o Properties of fluid or fluid parameters?
o Flow through channels?

• For 1 D flow
o Fluid parameters such as pressure, velocity, temperature
are constant in any cross section perpendicular to the
direction of flow
o Fluid parameters can vary from section to section along
direction of flow

• Flow path in a soil medium

 Darcy’s Law

Study of flow properties of water through clean sands

 Darcy’s law
∆ℎ ∆ℎ
𝑄∝ 𝐴 𝑄= 𝑘 𝐴
𝐿 𝐿
𝑘 = 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑄 = 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑤
∆ℎ
𝑖= = ℎ𝑦𝑑𝑟𝑎𝑢𝑙𝑖𝑐 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡
𝐿
• Hydraulic gradient is the total head difference between
two points divided by the distance between the points
Limitations of Darcy’s Law:
• Generally not valid for
o Liquid flow at very high velocities
o Gas flow at very low or very high velocities
 Darcy’s Law

• In terms of soil or particle size, Darcy's law is valid for

silt through medium sand (0.001 -1 mm)
 Flow Path
• What path will a particle of water travel in a soil
medium?

o Actual path of flow

o Assumed path of flow

o Actual area of flow

o Assumed area of flow

o Actual velocity of flow

o Assumed velocity of flow

Flow Velocity
• From Darcy 𝑄 = 𝑘𝑖𝐴
𝑣 = 𝑘𝑖 ∴ 𝑄 = 𝑣𝐴
• For same flow rate, v will
change if A changes
• Velocity of flow from 1-2 is
Approach velocity
• Velocity from 2-3 is
Seepage velocity
• Which of these velocities is
the actual velocity of flow
through a soil medium?
 Flow Velocity
• Seepage velocity is the true or actual velocity of water
flowing through the pores of a soil
• Approach/ Discharge velocity is the fictitious velocity of
water flowing through a unit cross sectional area of a soil
medium (Area of solids + voids)
• Approach velocity is however a statistically convenient
“engineering” velocity and is often used
• Which velocity is used in the Darcy’s law?
• Seepage and Approach velocity which is greater? Prove
 Hydraulic Head
• How do we determine total energy at any point in a
system with water flowing through it?
𝑣2 𝑃
• 𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝐸𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 = + + 𝑔𝑧 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑎𝑡 𝑎 𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡
2 𝜌𝑤
where v = velocity of fluid flow at the point
P = pressure at the point
ρw = density of fluid
g = acceleration due to gravity
Z = elevation of the point above a
reference point (Datum)
• What if total energy between two points are the
same?
 Hydraulic Head
• Normalizing energy equation by gravity
𝑣2 𝑃
• 𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝐸𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 = + +𝑧 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑎𝑡 𝑎 𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡
2𝑔 𝜌𝑤 𝑔
• Each term has unit of length so we refer to each of them in
terms of head
𝑣2 𝑃
• 𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝐻𝑒𝑎𝑑 = + + 𝑧
2𝑔 𝜌𝑤 𝑔

Velocity Pressure Elevation

Head, hv Head, hp Head, he

• For flow through soils velocity is so small it is neglected

• Water will flow from one point to another when there is
difference in total heads between the points
 Determining Elevation
Head
• Elevation head at any point is the vertical distance
above or below a reference point (Datum)

• Determine the
elevation heads at
points A, B, C, D, E
and F.
 Determine Pressure Head
𝑃
• Pressure head, ℎ𝑝 =
𝜌𝑤 𝑔

• Pressure of the water

surface opened to the
atmosphere is zero
• If surface is not opened to
atmosphere?
• Pressure head increases
with depth in water and
vice versa
• Rate of change in pressure
head changes in different
medium Determine the pressure heads
at Points A -F
Determine Pressure Head
• Piezometers give the
pressure head at a
point.

• Piezometer level is the

height of water in the
piezometer as
measured from the
point where the
piezometer inlet is
located
Determine Pressure Head
• Determine pressure
heads at points B, C, D

• Piezometer level is the

height of water in the
piezometer as
measured from the
point where the
piezometer inlet is
located
 Total Head
Total head = Elevation head + Pressure head
Point He Hp Ht Hl

A 40 0 40 0
B 35 5 40 0
C 20 20 40 0
D 7.5 12.5 20 20
E 0 ? ? ?
F -5 5 0 40

The heads vrs their corresponding points

(elevation) can be plotted on a graph
 Hydraulic head
• It is possible for the elevation head, he as well as
pressure head, hp to be negative depending on
geometry of problem

• The important thing is that the total head must

equal the sum of hp and he at all times

• The direction of flow is determined by the head

difference.
• Any head loss occurs in soils
 Worked Examples

Which of these set ups will have upward, downward or no flow

 Worked Example

Determine the elevation head, pressure head, total head and head loss at points
A, B and C. Determine the direction flow.
Worked Example
• Two soil types with
different permeability,
k1 = 4k2.

• L1 = 4cm, L2 = 6cm

• Determine he, hp, ht and

hl at A, B, C, D, E

• Plot variation of heads

for points A-E with
horizontal distance
 Effective Stress
• Effective stress principle
o Effective stress, 𝜎𝑉 ′ = total stress, 𝜎𝑣 – pore water pressure, 𝑢

• Importance of effective stress

- Controls the engineering properties of soils
o Increasing effective stress increases soil compression leading to
settlement

o Changes in effective stress changes shear strength ( slope

stability, bearing capacity, depends on shear strength of soils)

o Changes in effective stress changes void ratio and thus to some

extent permeability
 Effective stress-
hydrostatic conditions

Determine effective stress at soil surface A-A, B-B and C-C

 Effective stress-
hydrostatic conditions

If the water table is in soil 1 ( at D-D) as shown, determine

effective stress at section C-C
 Effective Stress –
Hydraulic conditions
• To determine effective
stress you need pore
water pressure
• For flow pore water
pressure can be
determined in two ways:
o Product of unit weight of
water and pressure head at
point
o Sum of Hydrostatic pressure
and seepage pressure

Upward flow
 Effective Stress –
Hydraulic conditions
• As water flows through a soil it exerts a force on the
soil grains
• This force, known as seepage force or drag force,
acts in the direction of flow in isotropic soils
• The pressure induced in the soil as a result of the
force is termed seepage pressure
• For flow, total pore water pressure = Hydrostatic
water pressure + Seepage pressures
• With flow, pore pressure changes and thus effective
stress changes
 Effective Stress –
Hydraulic conditions
• Hydrostatic pressures are the components which
would occur if there were no flow
• Seepage pressures are the components responsible
for flow of water
• Seepage pressures can be converted to forces and
vice versa
• Seepage pressures can be determined by
considering the boundary water pressures
 Calculating seepage
pressure
• For water to flow through
a soil, a force or pressure
is needed to push the
water
• That pressure is induced
by some hydraulic head
(total head difference
between the two points)
• This pressure known as
seepage pressure, 𝑃𝑠 =
𝛾𝑤 ∆ℎ
• If there is no flow
seepage pressure is zero

Upward flow
Effective Stress- fluid flow
• To determine effective
stress you need pore
water pressure
• For flow pore water
pressure can be
determined in two ways:
o Product of unit weight of
water and pressure head at
point
o Sum of Hydrostatic pressure
and seepage pressure

Upward flow
Effective Stress- fluid flow

• Determine effective stress at points A, B and C

 Stresses due to Flow
Static Situation (No flow)

hw
At X,

z
v = whw + satz
L
X u = w (hw + z)
soil
v ' = (sat - w)z

v ' = ' z
 Stresses due to Flow
Downward Flow

At X, flow

v = whw + satz
… as for static case Δh
hw u = w h w

u = w hw + wz - w (z/L) Δh z
L
= w hw + w(z- z Δh /L ) X
soil
= w (hw+z) - wiz
Reduction due to flow
u = w (hw+L-Δh)
v =' ' z + wiz
Increase due to flow
 Stresses due to Flow
Upward Flow
flow
At X,
Δh
v = whw + satz
… as for static case
hw u = w hw
u=w hw+ wz +w(z/L)Δh
z
= w hw + w(z+z Δh /L) L
X

= w (hw+z) + wiz soil

Increase due to flow u = w (hw+L+Δh

v ' = ' z - wiz
Reduction due to flow
 Quick Condition
• Seepage force acts in the direction of flow and can
combine with soil weight to either improve stability or
worsen it
• Effective stress represent interparticle forces. The higher
the effective stress the higher the interparticle forces and
hence strength
• For downward flow, effective stress increases as seepage
force increases interparticle forces
• For upward flow, effective stress decreases as seepage
force decreases interparticle forces
• Quick condition occurs when the shear strength of soil
become zero due to the absence of effective stress
• Quick condition occurs in cohesionless soils
 Quick Condition
• The critical hydraulic gradient, 𝑖𝑐 is the hydraulic
gradient at which effective stress becomes zero
and quick conditions occur
• The quick condition is also known as boiling
condition
• In practice, boiling conditions are restricted to soils
in the silt and fine sand range
• In general, for quick conditions 𝛾 ′ ≈ 𝛾𝑤 and thus 𝑖𝑐 ≈
1
• Quick refers to a condition and not a material
Civil Engineering Department
College of Engineering

Course: Soil Mechanics

(CE 359)

Lecturer: Dr. Frederick Owusu-Nimo

 What is permeability?
A measure of how easily a fluid (e.g., water) can
pass through a porous medium (e.g., soils)

water

Loose soil Dense soil

- easy to flow - difficult to flow
- high permeability - low permeability
40
 Permeability Values
• Permeability varies widely for different soils (1ms-1 for
clean gravels to 10-10 ms-1 for unfissured clay

Soil Type Permeability

(m/sec)
Clean gravel 1 – 0.01
Coarse Sand 0.01 – 10-4
Fine Sand 10-4 – 10-5
Silty Clay 10-5 – 10-7
Clay < 10-7

41
 Factors affecting
Permeability
Permeability values depend on several factors
(fluid and soil properties)
• Fluid viscosity (also dependent on temperature)

• Size and continuity of pore spaces (depends on

size, shape of particles, void ratio, etc)

• Presence of discontinuities

42
 Determination of
Permeability
• Laboratory Methods
o Indirect Laboratory Methods
• From Consolidation Tests: 𝑘 = 𝑚𝑣 𝑐𝑣 𝛾𝑤
• From grading characteristics (Hazen formulae) : 𝑘 = 𝐶𝐷10 2

o Direct Laboratory Methods

• Constant Head Permeability Test – for coarse grained soils
• Falling Head Permeability Test – coarse and fine grained soils

• Field Methods
o Well Pumping Test
o Tracer Tests, etc

43
Constant Head

44
Falling Head

45
 Example 1
• The permeability of a soil sample is determined in
the lab using the constant head permeability test.
What is the permeability of the soil in m/sec if these
test values were obtained/used
o Length of specimen =45cm
o Area of specimen =23cm2
o Head difference = 71cm
o Amount of water collected in a period of 3min = 354cm3
 Example 2
• For a falling head permeability test, the following
values are given:
o Length of specimen = 200mm
o Area of soil specimen = 1000mm2
o Area of standpipe = 40 mm2
o Head difference at time t= 0 is 500mm
o Head difference at time t=180sec is 300mm
Determine the permeability of the soil in cm/sec
 Well Pumping Tests
o The reliability of laboratory methods depends on the extent
to which the test specimens are representative of the soil
mass as a whole. More reliable results can generally be
obtained by the in-situ field methods
o A well extending the whole thickness of aquifer (water
bearing formation) is sunk
o As water is pumped, a drawdown, maximum at the well
and reducing radially from the well is created
o Observation wells are also sunk at radial distances from the
well to monitor water levels
o When steady state is established, various parameters are
measured, and with the help of Darcy’s law and Dupuits
assumption, the permeability of aquifer is determined
 Well Pumping Tests
• Dupuit’s assumption- the hydraulic gradient at any
point is constant from the top to the bottom of the
water bearing stratum and it is equal to slope of the
water surface / table
𝑑ℎ
𝑖=
𝑑𝑟
h is the height of water table at radius r from the well

• Aquifer types
o Unconfined aquifer – impervious layer only at bottom
o Confined aquifer – impervious layer at both top and
bottom
 Unconfined Aquifer
• Consider two boreholes located on a radial line at distances r1 and r2
from the centre of the well
• The respective water levels relative to the bottom of the stratum being
h1 and h2.
• For any distance r, the area through which seepage takes place is
2πrh, where r and h are variables. Then applying Darcy’s law:
q = Aki
dh
q = 2 rhk
dr
r2dr h2
 q = 2 k  hdh
r1 r h1

 r2 
 q ln   =  k (h22 − h12 )
 r1 
2.3q log(r2 / r1 )
k =
 (h22 − h12 )
 Confined Aquifer
For a confined stratum of thickness H the area through which seepage
takes place is 2πrH, where r is variable and H is constant.

q = Aki
dh
q = 2 rHk
dr
r2 dr h2
 q = 2 Hk  dh
r1 r h1

 r2 
 q ln   = 2 Hk (h2 − h1 )
 r1 
2.3q log(r2 / r1 )
The drawdown curve must always be k =
2 H (h 2 − h1 )
above the confining layer
 Assumptions of well
pumping formula
• The test well must penetrate the full thickness of the
water bearing formation

• A steady flow condition must exist (i.e. water levels

in test and observation wells become constant)

• The formation is homogenous, isotropic and extends

an infinite distance in all directions

• The Dupuit’s assumption is valid

 Note
• Pumping tests lower groundwater unevenly and
may cause uneven stresses in soils. Thus pumping
tests near existing structures can cause uneven or
differential settling.
Civil Engineering Department
College of Engineering

Course: Soil Mechanics

(CE 359)

Lecturer: Dr. Frederick Owusu-Nimo

 Introduction
• When water flows through well defined aquifers/
flow boundary conditions, we can compute the
flow rate using Darcy’s law, q=kiA

• When flow path is irregular, then using analytical

equations becomes difficult

• We evaluate flow in this case using flow net

• Usually in flow net, water seeps through the

permeable stratum from upstream side to the
downstream side
Flow Net
 Flow Net
• Flow line represents the path along which a given water
particle travels in moving from the upstream side through
the permeable stratum to the downstream side
• Equipotential lines connects points on different flow lines
having equal total energy heads
• A collection of flow lines intersecting equipotential lines
constitute flow nets
• Both the upstream and downstream surfaces of a
permeable layer are equipotential lines
• The impervious surfaces are flow lines
Construction of Flow Net
• Flow net construction requires a scale drawing of the
cross section of the flow path
• It should show the impervious boundaries which restrict
flow and the pervious boundary through which water
enters and exits the soil
 Construction of Flow Net
• Sketch several (about 2 to 4) flow lines approximately
parallel to the impervious boundaries and
perpendicular to the pervious boundary
Construction of Flow Net
• Sketch equipotential lines approximately
perpendicular to the flow lines
Construction of Flow Net
• The equipotential and flow lines should be drawn to
form quasi-squares (approx. equal length and width)
• Adjust flow lines and equipotential lines so that all
figures have equal width and length and intersections
perpendicular
Different Forms of Flow
Net
Different Forms of Flow
Net
Different Forms of Flow
Net
Different Forms of Flow
Net

Coffer Dam
Computing Flow Rate
Computing Flow Rate
 Computing Flow Rate
𝑁𝑓 𝑁𝑓
• 𝑞 = 𝑘ℎ , is termed the shape factor
𝑁𝑑 𝑁𝑑

o q is flow rate per unit width

o k is permeability
o h is total head difference
o Nf is number of flow channels
o Nd is number of equipotential drops

• For the same problem, the shape factor will generally be

the same no matter the number of flow channels you
use
 Example

• For the flow net, the coefficient of permeability of soil stratum

is 4.8x10-3 cm/s. Find the total rate of seepage per unit width of
sheet pile through the permeable stratum.
 Anisotropic Soils
• For stratified or anisotropic soils with different
permeabilities in the vertical and horizontal
directions, the flow net must be modified
• Horizontal permeability is usually much greater than
vertical permeability
• A transformed section is used to account for the
different permeabilities
• A transformed section implies modifying the scale
used for drawing the cross section
 Anisotropic Soils
• Steps in constructing flow net for anisotropic soils
o Vertical lengths are plotted in the usual manner to fit the scale
selected for the sketch
o Horizontal dimensions are first alterd by multiplying all horizontal
𝑘𝑧
lengths by factor 𝑘𝑥
and plotting the result to scale

o The resulting drawing will appear distorted with apparently shortened

horizontal dimensions
o The conventional flow net is sketched on the transformed section in
the same manner as isotropic soils
o For computing seepage flow, the k is replaced with 𝑘𝑥 𝑘𝑧
o Thus the equation for seepage flow rate becomes
𝑁𝑓
𝑞 = 𝑘𝑥 𝑘𝑧 ℎ
𝑁𝑑
 Filters
• Used for
o Facilitating drainage to allow
sufficient head to be lost

o Preventing fines from being

washed away
• Filter Materials
o Granular soils
o Geotextiles
granular filter
• Filter Design
o Choice of filter dimensions
o Choice of Filter material
 Granular Filter Design
Two major criteria:
(a) Retention Criteria

- to prevent washing out of fines

 Filter grains must not be too coarse

(b) Permeability Criteria

- to facilitate drainage and thus avoid build-up of pore pressures i.e.

allow sufficient head to be lost

 Filter grains must not be too fine

73
 Filter Specifications
Retention criteria: Permeability criteria:
D15, filter < 5 D85, soil D15, filter > 4 D15, soil
- after Terzaghi & Peck (1967)
average filter pore size

D15, filter < 20 D15, soil

- after US Navy (1971)

D50, filter < 25 D50, soil

74
 Example
• Dam is 120m long and has two 10cm sheet piles
driven partially into the granular soil layer. Datum is at
tailwater elevation. Compute:
o Quantity of seepage loss under the dam if k = 20x10-4cm/s

o Exit gradient (at point X in drawing)

o Pressure distribution on the base of the dam (Uplift Pressures)

o Will you say the dam is stable or not? Take density of

concrete to be 2400kg/m3

o Factor of safety with respect to piping

Example