Effects of toe configuration on throughflow properties of rockfill dams

Numerical Modeling of the Effects of Toe Configuration on Throughflow in Rockfill Dams

“…A recent investigation conducted by Ravindra [12] studied the effects of various configurations of rockfill toes on throughflow development within hydraulic scale models of rockfill dams (Figure 2). Findings from the experimental studies, presented by Kiplesund et al [13], highlight the fact that toe configuration can have significant impact on the development and progression of phreatic surfaces within rockfill dam models subjected to incremental overtopping scenarios. The toe configurations were also found to influence the stability of the downstream slope.…”

“…The study gave valuable insight into the significance of rockfill toes with regard to rockfill dam safety. The present study builds numerical models on the data accumulated through the experimental investigations [12,13]. The present study is a part of an ongoing research program into dam overtopping and throughflow.…”

“…The full-scale part embraces consideration of the design of existing dams [14,15], as well as analysis of data accumulated from full-scale tests [16]. The hydraulic scale models that relate to the numerical modeling of the present study are those presented by Kiplesund et al [13]. These considered the scaling of previous hydraulic scale models for investigating riprap erosion protection on the downstream slope of embankment dams [17][18][19].…”

“…Moreover, numerical modeling of the effect of various toe configurations on flow through rockfill dams has not been looked into in the past. The datasets gathered through the previously mentioned physical modeling investigations [12,13] are used to calibrate numerical models employing the numerical seepage software SEEP/W [20] with a non-Darcy tool. The aim is to predict the development of throughflow within rockfill dam structures and to numerically model the effect of a drainage component within the downstream dam slope on non-linear throughflow development.…”

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“…The original focus was on the stability of riprap on dams (Hiller et al 2018(Hiller et al , 2019. Further work was done on riprap stability as well as investigating throughflow in rockfill dams (Ravindra et al 2019(Ravindra et al , 2020a, and how this affects overall stability and how different toe designs affect throughflow and stability (Kiplesund et al 2021). One of the important outcomes of this research has been the description of failure mechanisms and quantification of the increased safety provided by dumped and placed ripraps as well as how the factor of safety is affected by the throughflow conditions in the downstream supporting fill.…”