İMÜ331 – Soil Mechanics I

SEEPAGE
Seepage
Seepage, in soil engineering is movement of water in soils.
It is a critical problem in building foundations.
Water flows between interconnected pores between solids.
Seepage depends on several factors, including permeability of the soil and the pressure gradient,
essentially the combination of forces acting on water through gravity and other factors.
Permeability can vary over a wide range, depending on soil structure and composition, making
possible the safe design of such structures as earth dams and reservoirs with negligible leakage
loss, and other structures such as roadbeds and filtration beds in which rapid drainage is
desirable.
Terminology used to describe GW conditions
assumed to be fully saturated, although it is likely that, due to the presence of small
volumes of entrapped air, the degree of saturation will be marginally below 100%. The
level of the water table changes according to climatic conditions but the level can
change also as a consequence of constructional operations. A perched water table can

Seepage
occur locally, contained by soil of low permeability, above the normal water table
level. Artesian conditions can exist if an inclined soil layer of high permeability is
confined locally by an overlying layer of low permeability; the pressure in the artesian
layer is governed not by the local water table level but by a higher water table level at
Below thelocation
a distant water table
wherethethepore water
layer may be
is unconfined.
Below the water table the pore water may be static, the hydrostatic pressure
1) static,
depending theonhydrostatic
the depth pressure
below thedepending on the
water table, depth
or may bebelow thethrough
seeping water table,
the soil
under
2) hydraulic
seeping gradient:
through the soilthis chapter
under is concerned
hydraulic gradientwith the second case. Bernoulli’s
theorem applies to the pore water but seepage velocities in soils are normally so small
Bernoulli’s
that velocitytheorem applies
head can to the pore
be neglected. Thuswater but seepage velocities in soils are normally so
small that velocity head can be neglected. Thus
u
h¼ þz ð2:1Þ
!w
where h is the total head, u the pore water pressure, gw the unit weight of water (9.8 kN/m3)
and z the
where h iselevation
the totalhead above
head, u thea chosen datum.
pore water pressure, !w the unit weight of water
(9.8 kN/m3) and z the elevation head above a chosen datum.
Above the water table, water can be held at negative pressure by capillary tension;
the smaller the size of the pores the higher the water can rise above the water table. The
capillary rise tends to be irregular due to the random pore sizes occurring in a soil. The
soil can be almost completely saturated in the lower part of the capillary zone but in
general the degree of saturation decreases with height. When water percolates through
 z: Elevation head above a chosen datum line
u: Pore pressure at a given point
h: Total head at a given point
Dh: total head difference= hA-hB

Bernoulli Equation: 0 as V is so small

𝑢! 𝑉! 𝑢# 𝑉#
+ 𝑧! + = + 𝑧# + + ∆ℎ
𝛾" 2𝑔 𝛾" 2𝑔
Energy loss between A & B
Total energy of water at point
A with respect to datum line
 ∆"
Hydraulic gradient = 𝑖 =
∆#
The average velocity at which water flows through
𝑉 = 𝑖×𝑘 Darcy’s Law the pores is obtained by dividing the volume of
V=flow velocity water flowing per unit time by the average area of
k=permeability (has units of velocity) voids (Av) on a cross section normal to the
macroscobic direction of flow. This velocity is called
10-9<k<1 (finest soil < coarser soil)
‘seepage velocity’
𝑞
𝑞 = 𝑉×𝐴 𝑉′ =
q = Discharge per unit time 𝐴$
V=average velocity
Seepage velocity Area of voids
A=Cross-sectional area
$
𝑉 =%=𝑖(𝑘
V=discharge (flow) velocity
 &!
Remember 𝑛 =
&
'×%!
On average à 𝑛 = '×%
(assuming voids are uniformly distributed)
𝐴) = 𝑛 ( 𝐴
$ & -,.
𝑉* = = 𝑜𝑟 𝑉 * =
+,% % +
Determination of k
k: coefficient of permeability
A) Lab Methods
◦ Constant head permeability test
◦ Falling head permeability test

B) In-situ Methods
◦ Well pumping test
◦ Constant head borehole
◦ Variable head borehole
Used for granular soils
A steady state vertical flow water,
under constant load is maintained
through the soil & the volume of
water flowing per unit time (q) is
measured.
A series of test should be run, each
at different rate of flow.
In-situ methods
The reliability of lab permeability
determinations depends on the extent to
which the test specimen are representative
of the in-situ soil mass as a whole. For
important projects in-situ determination
may be justified.
Well-pumping: in homogenous coarse
grained soils
Water is pumped out from the well & water
levels in the adjacent boreholes are
observed. Pumping is continued until steady
seepage conditions become established.
 Seepage Theory
On general, seepage in 2D will be considered. Assumptions:
Soil is homogenous and isotropic with respect to permeability, the coefficient of permeability
being “k”
z
z z The volume entering the element per unit time:
z
𝑣& 0 𝑑𝑦 0 𝑑𝑧 + 𝑣% 0 𝑑𝑥 0 𝑑𝑦 …………………………..(1)

The volume leaving the element per unit time:

x '(! '(
x x
(𝑣& + '&
𝑑𝑥) 0 𝑑𝑦 0 𝑑𝑧 + (𝑣% '%" 𝑑𝑧) 0 𝑑𝑥 0 𝑑𝑦…………………………..(2)

z As there is no volume change

x and water is incompressible, the
z
𝜕ℎ difference between 1 & 2 should be zero
𝑣& = 𝑘 0 𝑖& = −𝑘 0
𝜕𝑥 If the volume will change:
𝜕𝑉& 𝜕𝑉%
𝜕ℎ + =0 𝜕𝑉& 𝜕𝑉% 𝑑𝑉
𝑣% = 𝑘 0 𝑖% = −𝑘 0 𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑧 + 𝑑𝑥 0 𝑑𝑦 0 𝑑𝑧 =
𝜕𝑧 𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑧 𝑑𝑡
Equation of continuity in 2D
 Influence of Seepage on Effective Stress
Pore pressure at level B: 𝑢/ = 𝑢% + 𝑙 ( 𝛾0 + ∆ℎ ( 𝛾0
Dh 𝑢/ − 𝑢% = 𝑙 ( 𝛾0 + ∆ℎ ( 𝛾0
The pressure component
which causes flow
uA/gw Pressure à ∆ℎ ( 𝛾0
A
Force à ∆ℎ ( 𝛾0 ( 𝑏 ( 1
uB/gw
Multiplying and dividing by “l”
l b
∆ℎ
( 𝛾0 ( 𝑏 ( 1 ( 𝑙 = 𝑖 ( 𝛾0 ( 𝑉
𝑙
Seepage force acting
over a volume
B 𝑖 ( 𝛾0 ( 𝑉
= 𝑖 ( 𝛾0 ( 𝑙 = 𝑖 ( ∆ℎ ( 𝛾0
𝑏(1
Seepage Pressure
There are 2 possible approaches to assess the effect of seepage in s’
1) Total (saturated) weight + resultant boundary water force (Pore Pressure approach)
2) Effective (buoyant) weight + seepage force,
Ex: For the seepage situations shown in the figure, determine the effective normal stress on
plane XX in each case
(a) by considering pore water pressure and
(b) by considering seepage pressure.
The saturated unit weight of the soil is 20kN/m3 .
Case 2:
 Quick Condition (Boiling)
Resultant stress at the base:
𝑙 0 𝛾)*+ − 𝑙 0 𝛾" − ∆ℎ 0 𝛾"
Dh
Total stress Acting in the reverse direction
at the base
= 𝑙 0 𝛾)*+ − 𝛾" − ∆ℎ 0 𝛾"
= 𝑙 0 𝛾′ − ∆ℎ 0 𝛾"
gwxl Divide by “l” ∆ℎ
l 𝛾, − 0 𝛾" = 0
𝑙
𝛾 , − 𝑖 0 𝛾" = 0
Critical hydraulic 𝛾, 𝛾, 𝐺) − 1 𝛾" 1 𝐺) − 1
𝑖-. = 𝑖-. = = 0 =
gradient 𝛾" 𝛾" 1+𝑒 𝛾" 1+𝑒

If i≥icr then sand boiling occurs (valid only for sand)

For most soils icr≈1 ((20-10)/10)