SEEPAGE ANALYSIS

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SEEPAGE ANALYSIS

All soils are permeable materials, water being free to low through the
interconnected pores between the solid particles.

It is therefore vital that the pressure of the pore water is known both
under static conditions and when pore water low is occurring (this is
known as seepage).
‘Seepage’ is defined as the flow of a fluid, usually water, through a
soil under a hydraulic gradient.

The pressure of the pore water is measured relative to atmospheric

pressure, and the level at which the pressure is atmospheric (i.e. zero)
is defined as the water table (WT) or the phreatic surface.
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SEEPAGE ANALYSIS

A perched water
table can occur locally
in an aquitard (in
which water is
contained by soil of
low permeability, above
the normal water table
level) or an aquiclude
(where the
surrounding material is
impermeable). An
example of a perched
water table is shown
schematically in Figure
2.1 (Craig, 2012):
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SEEPAGE ANALYSIS

• A hydraulic gradient is supposed to exist between two points if there exists a

difference in the ‘hydraulic head’ at the two points.

• By hydraulic head is meant the sum of the position or datum head and pressure
head of water.

• The discussion on flow nets and seepage relates to the practical aspect of
controlling groundwater during and after construction of foundations below
the groundwater table, earth dam and weirs on permeable foundations.
• The groundwater flow is generally calculated by the use of graphs referred to as
flow nets.
• The concept of the flow net is based on Laplace’s equation of continuity,
which governs the steady flow condition for a given point in the soil mass.

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SEEPAGE ANALYSIS

LAPLACE’S EQUATION OF CONTINUITY

Let us consider a single row of sheet piles that have been driven into a permeable soil layer, as shown in
Figure below (Das, 2010) :

and

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SEEPAGE ANALYSIS

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SEEPAGE ANALYSIS

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SEEPAGE ANALYSIS

from the equations,

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SEEPAGE ANALYSIS

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SEEPAGE ANALYSIS

FLOW NETS
Flow Line
A line along which a water particle will travel from upstream to the downstream side in
the permeable soil medium.
Equipotential Line
a line along which the potential head at all points is equal.
Flow Net
a combination of a number of flow lines and equipotential lines.

Characteristics of a Flow Net

1. The equipotential lines intersect the flow lines at right angles.

2. The flow elements formed are approximate squares.

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SEEPAGE ANALYSIS

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(a) Definition of flow lines and equipotential lines;
SEEPAGE ANALYSIS

(b) completed flow net 12

SEEPAGE ANALYSIS

Drawing a flow net takes several trials. While constructing the flow net,
keep the boundary conditions in mind. For the flow net shown in Figure
(b), the following four boundary conditions apply:

Condition 1: The upstream and downstream surfaces of the permeable

layer (lines ab and de) are equipotential lines.
Condition 2: Because ab and de are equipotential lines, all the flow lines
intersect them at right angles.
Condition 3: The boundary of the impervious layer—that is, line fg—is a
flow line, and so is the surface of the impervious sheet pile, line acd.
Condition 4: The equipotential lines intersect acd and fg at right angles.
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SEEPAGE ANALYSIS

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SEEPAGE ANALYSIS

Seepage Calculation from a Flow Net

In any flow net, the strip between any two adjacent flow lines is called a flow channel.
Figure 8.5 (Das, 2010) shows a flow channel with the equipotential lines forming square elements.
Let h1, h2, h3, h4,..., hn be the piezometric levels
corresponding to the equipotential lines.

The drop in the piezometric level between any two adjacent

equipotential lines is the same. This is called the potential
drop.

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SEEPAGE ANALYSIS

Seepage Calculation from a Flow Net

For rate of flow through the channel can be modified to

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SEEPAGE ANALYSIS

Seepage Calculation from a Flow Net

Figure 8.7 (Das, 2010) shows a flow net for seepage around a single row of sheet piles.

Note that flow channels 1 and 2 have square

elements:

Flow channel 3 has rectangular elements.

These elements have a width-to-length ratio
of about 0.38; hence,

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SEEPAGE ANALYSIS

Rate of Seepage through the Foundation

For Isotropic Soils:

𝑲𝑯𝑵𝒇
𝑸=
𝑵𝒅
(rate of a seepage from a flow net)

𝑲𝑿 = 𝑲𝒁 = 𝑲
(coefficient of permeability)

𝑵𝒇 = 𝟒 (number of flow channels)

𝑵𝒅 = 𝟕 (number of potential drops)

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SEEPAGE ANALYSIS

Rate of Seepage through the Foundation

For Anisotropic Soils:

To construct the flow net, use the following procedure:

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SEEPAGE ANALYSIS

Rate of Seepage through the Foundation

For Anisotropic Soils:

𝑲𝑿 𝑲𝒁 𝑯𝑵𝒇
𝑸=
𝑵𝒅
When 𝑲𝑿 ≠ 𝑲𝒁
𝑲 = 𝑲𝑿 𝑲𝒁
where
H = total head loss
Nf and Nd = number of
flow channels and
potential drops,
respectively
A flow element in anisotropic soil: in transformed
section;
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SEEPAGE ANALYSIS

Rate of Seepage through the Foundation

For Anisotropic Soils:

A flow element in anisotropic soil: in true section 21

SEEPAGE ANALYSIS

Example Problem # 1:

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SEEPAGE ANALYSIS

Solution:

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SEEPAGE ANALYSIS

Solution:

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SEEPAGE ANALYSIS

Example Problem # 2:

A dam section is shown in

figure below. The hydraulic
conductivity of the
permeable layer in the
vertical and horizontal
directions are 2 x 10-2
mm/s and 4 x 10-2 mm/s,
respectively. Draw a flow net
and calculate the seepage
loss of the dam in ft3/day/ft.
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SEEPAGE ANALYSIS

Solution:
From the given data,
𝒎𝒎−𝟐
𝒌𝒁 = 𝟐 × 𝟏𝟎 = 𝟓. 𝟔𝟕 𝒇𝒕/𝒅𝒂𝒚
𝒔
𝒎𝒎
𝒌𝒙 = 𝟒 × 𝟏𝟎−𝟐 = 𝟏𝟏. 𝟑𝟒 𝒇𝒕/𝒅𝒂𝒚
𝒔
𝒉 = 𝟐𝟎 𝒇𝒕

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SEEPAGE ANALYSIS

Solution:

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SEEPAGE ANALYSIS

Uplift Pressure under Hydraulic Structures

There are 7 equipotential drops in the flow net,
Nd = 7
The difference in the water levels between the
upstream and downstream sides is
H=7m
The head loss for each potential drop is
H/7 = 7/7 = 1 m

(8𝛾𝑊 + 3𝛾𝑊 )(14)(1)

𝑈𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 =
2
𝑈𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 = 77𝛾𝑊 =77(9.81)
𝑈𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 = 755.37 𝑘𝑁/𝑚
(a) A weir; (b) uplift force under a hydraulic structure 29
SEEPAGE ANALYSIS

Seepage Through an Earth Dam

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SEEPAGE ANALYSIS

Seepage Through an Earth Dam

For continuous flow,

Considering the triangle cde,

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SEEPAGE ANALYSIS

References:

Das, Braja, Principles of Geotechnical Engineering, 7th Edition, 2010

Knappet, J.A. and Craig, R.F., Craig’s Soil Mechanics, 8th Edition, 2012

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