325 / 2024-02-29 16:13:04

The Model Experiment on the Effects of the Crack on the Stability of River Embankments

river embankments; crack; structural stability; seepage failure

As for the external force of external water flooding from the embankment, it is thought that: overtopping, erosion, seepage and seismic forces. In the Great East Japan Earthquake, river embankments were severely damaged in a wide area from the Tohoku region to the Kanto region, causing damage such as cracks in many embankments. In order to clarify the major effects and mechanisms of these damages on the seepage failure of levees in the event of heavy rainfall and flooding, a two-dimensional seepage model experiment was conducted using a embankments model that reproduced the cracks. The aim of the present study was to perform laboratory model experiments using a two-dimensional model embankment model in order to control the occurrence of arc-slip and viping in a gravelly soil embankment. The effects on stability during seepage are investigated, focusing on the cracks and the materials of the embankment. The results show that when a large crack occurs, seepage failure of the embankment occurs from the bedrock around the crack due to seepage, resulting in accelerated seepage failure of the embankment. In contrast, it was found that when the cracks are relatively small, failure occurs from the crack periphery but does not have a significant effect on the overall seepage failure process.