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Probabilistic Evaluation of Seepage through Embankment Dams

Tarih: 

Konum:  A116

The effects of uncertainty of hydraulic conductivity and van Genuchten fitting parameters, α and n, used for unsaturated flow modeling, on transient seepage through embankment dams are investigated. Random variables of the parameters are generated using a number generation algorithm and it is coupled with a finite element software, SEEP/W, which is commonly used for seepage and groundwater flow problems. Stochastic analyses are handled via Monte Carlo simulation. In the applications, the statistical and probabilistic properties of the seepage rate passing through different embankment dams and transient boundary conditions are assessed. Hence the degree of uncertainty associated with the seepage are evaluated. It is found that the probabilistic properties of the seepage strongly depends on the boundary conditions of the dam. It is shown that commonly, the seepage through embankment dams can be statistically defined with generalized extreme value or three-parameter log-normal distributions.