Surface–subsurface flow effect on earthen dikes geomechanical stability during overtopping event

Droughts and extreme precipitation events, exacerbated by climate change, are causing growing threats to earthen dams. The increasing frequency of extreme events, which were not always considered when these earthen structures were built means that these factors may not have been fully accounted for in their design. The risk of overtopping flow is therefore increased and the initial soil's saturation level has a significant impact on the structure's strength that should not be overlooked during the assessment of the dike risk of failure when overtopped. In this paper, we present a novel numerical framework that consists in a physically-based approach which allows to study the effects of combined surface–subsurface flows on the slope stability evolution, using an effective stress formulation for the mechanical analysis. The surface flows are described using a one-dimensional shallow-water equations solver and are coupled in a conservative way with the subsurface flow, through a two-dimensional Richards equation solver. The shear strength reduction method is employed, in combination with an effective stress approach, to assess the longitudinal and lateral slope safety factor evolution taking into account the pore-pressure and saturation degree changes in time during overtopping.

Affiliations

UCLouvainSST/IMMC/GCE - Civil and environmental engineering

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Delpierre, N., Rattez, H., & Soares Frazao, S. (2025). Surface–subsurface flow effect on earthen dikes geomechanical stability during overtopping event. Geomechanics for Energy and the Environment, 2025(43), 100709. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gete.2025.100709 (Original work published 2025)