A comparison of the theoretical and experimental behaviour of a model earth dam in terms of slope stability

McQuaid, Stephen (2014) A comparison of the theoretical and experimental behaviour of a model earth dam in terms of slope stability. Bachelors thesis, Dundalk Institute of Technology.

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Abstract

Slope failure is one of the most prominent difficulties experienced in geotechnical engineering where catastrophes lead to the destruction of property and ultimately significant loss of life. One such salient example of this was the Oso slope failure which occurred 6.4km east of Oso, Washington, USA on the 22 nd of March 2014. This disaster, deemed to be the single deadliest landslide event in United States history claimed the lives of 26 people whilst 7 people remain unaccounted for. The purpose of this dissertation is to accurately construct a model earth dam and design an experimental methodology that produces consistent and comparable results in terms of its slope stability. The experimental results are critically compared with the theoretical results produced by the SLIDE slope stability software, with the overall objective of determining if computer analysis can accurately predict the behaviour of a model earth dam. This dissertation was compiled by completing an extensive review of 4 salient method of slices available that can be applied to determine the stability or instability of the slope. A similar amount of experimental data collection was also completed to enable a comparable dataset of results to be compiled. This report determines that the SLIDE program does accurately predict the behaviour of a model earth dam with downstream slopes of 1:1, 1:1.5, 1:1.75 and 1:2 respectively. However, during the experimental testing of the 1:2.5 and 1:3 downstream slopes it was observed that only initial erosion at the toe takes place. The SLIDE program applies its design principles and determines that the slope should fail. The experimental results contradict this as the slopes remained stable after the initial erosion subsided. An investigation was conducted to determine if the addition of a drainage blanket would negate the effect of erosion by altering the water flow path exit location. The result of this was conclusive and the dam was deemed to be stable at a downstream slope of 1:2.5.

Item Type:	Thesis (Bachelors)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Slope failure; Geotechnical engineering; Dams; SLIDE slope stability software.
Subjects:	Engineering
Research Centres:	UNSPECIFIED
Depositing User:	Sean McGreal
Date Deposited:	30 Jul 2015 08:49
Last Modified:	30 Jul 2015 08:49
URI:	https://eprints.dkit.ie/id/eprint/436

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