Comparison of 2D and 3D seepage analysis with the real measured quantities of earth-filled dams

In this article, after introduction and brief definition of a destructive phenomenon named seepage and a short review on previous researches, Abshineh earth-filled Dam was illustrated. Seepage analysis on the mentioned dam was performed by Seep/3D and Seep/W software which are used for 3D and 2D modeling. These software solve seepage equation by using finite element method. After that 2D and 3D resulted answers were compared with each other and with the measured quantities in reality; and finally the reasons of differences were elaborated. Sensitivity analysis for numerous crucial parameters was performed. As analysis and resulted answers indicates, 3D analysis resulted answers had better conformity with reality in comparison with 2D analysis. As the purpose of this article is; seepage 3D analysis before dams constructions is strongly recommended.

Keywords:

Earth-filled dam , Seepage , Seep/3D , Seep/W , Sensitivity analysis , 2D and 3D modeling