Geotechnical Engineering - I
Course Code: CEE351
Seepage and Flow net
By
Nur Md. Robiul Hoque
Assistant Professor, Dept. of CEE, SUST
How does
water flow
through
permeable
medium when it
faces obstacles
along its flow
path?
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Seepage
✓ Seepage is the flow of water under gravitational forces in a permeable medium.
Seepage force
✓ The seepage force is the force applied by the moving water to the soil or rock grains
through frictional drag.
✓ It is the energy of seeping water
transformed to soil as an effective
pressure.
Flow Line
✓ A Line along which a water particle
moves through a permeable soil
medium. (a.k.a. Streamline)
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Equipotential Line
✓ A line along which the potential head at all point is equal.
Field
✓ The potion enclosed between two successive equipotential lines and successive flow lines
is known as field
Flow Channel
✓ Strip between any two adjacent Flow Lines.
Flow Net
✓ Graphical Construction used to calculate
groundwater flow through soil. Comprised
of Flow Lines and Equipotential Lines.
✓ Flow Lines and Equipotential Lines
together form a flow net. 4
Flow Nets: Boundary Conditions
✓ The upstream and downstream
surfaces of the permeable layer (i.e.
line ab and de in figure (Das FGE
(2005)) are equipotential line
✓ All the flow lines intersect them at
right angles.
✓ The boundary of the impervious
layer (i.e. line fg in figure) and the
surface of the impervious sheet
pile (i.e. line acd in figure) is a flow
line. 5
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Application of Flow Net
✓ Seepage determination
✓ Determination of Hydrostatic pressure
✓ Seepage pressure
✓ Determination of exit gradient
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𝑵𝒇
Prove that in a flow filed, Seepage Flow 𝒒 = 𝒌𝑯
𝑵𝒅
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Problem 1
For a homogenous earth dam 52 m high and 2 m free board, a flow net was
constructed and following results were obtained: Number of potential drops = 25 and
Number of flow channels = 4. The dam has a horizontal filter of 40 m length at its
downstream end. Calculate the discharge per meter length of the dam if the co-
efficient of permeability of the dam material is 3*10-3 cm/sec.
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Example 1
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Example 1
Solution:
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Example 1
Solution:
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Example 2
A cross section of sheet pile wall is given
in following figure. Use co-efficient of
permeability of the soil is 1.6*10-4 ft/s.
Find out
a) Determine boundary equipotential
and flow lines
b) Sketch equipotential and flow lines
c) Determine boundary heads
d) Find total ∆h along flow lines
e) Determine Nd by counting number of
equipotential drops
f) Determine the hd, the head drop
across a square
g) Determine pressure at point e
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h) Determine total rate of seepage.
Solution:
a) Determine boundary equipotential and flow lines
i. Line kb and hl are equipotential lines
ii. Line mn, be and he are flow lines
b) Sketch equipotential and flow lines
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Solution:
ℎ1 ℎ2 ℎ3 ℎ4 ℎ5 ℎ6 ℎ7 ℎ8 ℎ9
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Solution:
a) Determine boundary equipotential and flow lines
i. Line kb and hl are equipotential lines
ii. Line mn, be and he are flow lines
b) Sketch equipotential and flow lines
c) Determine boundary heads
h1= 60 ft + 30 ft = 90 ft
h9 = 60 ft + 5 ft = 65 ft
d) Find total ∆h along flow lines
Δh = (h1 - h9) = 90 ft – 65 ft = 25 ft
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Solution:
e) Determine Nd by counting number of equipotential drops
Nd = 8
f) Determine the hd, the head drop across a square
hd = Δh / Nd
h2 = h1 – hd
g) Determine pressure at point e
h5 = ze + pe/γ
h) Determine total rate of seepage.
q=?
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Problem 1
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Sources
✓ Arora, K.R. (1987), Soil mechanics and foundation engineering. Standard
publishers distributors. ISBN: 81-8014-028-8
✓ Das, B.M. (2013), Principles of geotechnical Engineering. Cengage learning
India private limited. ISBN-13: 978-81-315-1879-3
✓ Punmia, B.C. (1970), Soil mechanics and foundation. Laxmi publications (P)
LTD. ISBN: 81-7008-081-9
Acknowledgment
✓ Study Materials, Md. Shahidur Rahman, CEE, SUST.
✓ Class Materials, Permeability & Seepage, Md. Mokhlesur Rahman. Dhaka
University of Engineering and Technology (DUET), Gazipur
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