The scaling law in the hole erosion test with a constant pressure drop

Abstract

International audienceA process called piping, which often occurs in the soil at dams, levees, and dykes, involves the formation and development of a continuous tunnel between upstream and downstream ends. The hole erosion test is commonly used to quantify the critical stress and the rate of piping erosion progression. The aim of this study is to draw up a model for interpreting the results of this test. A characteristic internal erosion time is defined and expressed as a function of the initial hydraulic gradient and the coefficient of surface erosion. It is established here that the product of the coefficient of erosion and the flow velocity is a significant dimensionless number: when this number is small, the kinetics of erosion are low, and the particle concentration does not have any effect on the flow. This finding applies to most of the available test results. Theoretical and experimental evidence is presented showing that the evolution of the pipe radius during erosion with a constant pressure drop obeys a scaling exponential law

A comparative analysis of interface erosion tests

“…In the case of a turbulent flow, Bonelli and Brivois (2008) proposed a scaling law. Assuming the friction coefficient and the specimen length to be constant and defining dimensionless diameters and flow rates based upon reference values at time zero, it is possible to express the dimensionless diameter as a parametric function of the dimensionless flow rate:…”

Numerical modeling of erosion using an improvement of the extended finite element method

“…Hypotheses need to be introduced in order for the coupled problem to be solvable. In some cases, these hypotheses simplify the problem greatly and provide (Robin-like) boundary conditions on the Stokes flow (Jäger et al, 1996;Bonelli et al, 2008), rather than a fully coupled problem. However, the physical justification of these hypotheses is sometimes arguable.…”

A meshless method solution approach for the transient poro-elastic levee problem

“…The front velocity of the flow, f V  , is used to track the location of the saturation time within the porous medium by adopting a Volume-of-Fluid (VOF) approach [2] as it is done for two-phase flows. Thus, the location of the saturation (phreatic) line, s , at any time-level can be traced by a transport equation as:…”

“…Developing a mechanistic understanding of progressive piping has been undertaken by Sellmeijer and Koenders [20], Ojha et al [18], Kakuturu and Reddi [15], Bonelli et al [1], El Shamy and Aydin [4], and Bonelli and Brivois [2] while recent research by Ojka et al [18], and Yi et al [25] has focused on the transient nature of piping. Kakuturu and Reddi [14] have described the experimental methods for evaluation of some soil properties that influence progressive piping.…”