Analysis of embankment failure mechanism in reservoirs due to rainfall infiltration during heavy rainfall

Abstract

Many heavy rain disasters have occurred in recent years in Japan. The maintenance of water storage facilities such as dams has become a global issue. The aim is to simulate the failure mechanism of reservoirs in which slip failure occurred on the downstream slope of the embankment due to the heavy rainfall in August 2019 in Japan. This study proposes a simulation method for evaluating embankment stability with respect to the fluctuations in the water level and the rainfall infiltration from the embankment surface using the two-dimensional saturated–unsaturated seepage flow simulation based on the finite element method. Moreover, the safety factors of the slip surface during heavy rain were calculated based on the simulated seepage line. By considering rainfall infiltration, the safety factor of the slip surface decreased significantly, and the occurrence of slip failure in the in-situ position could be reproduced. In conclusion, rainfall infiltration must be considered when evaluating the stability of a reservoir body during heavy rainfall.

Keywords

• Heavy rain event
• reservoir
• dam
• rainfall infiltration
• seepage flow simulation
• slip failure