“Determining the course of the flow line under a sheet pile through a visualization of seepage

flows”

Abstract

Sheet piles with holes have been applied to preserve the flow of underground water.
Several laboratory tests and numerical analyses were conducted to study the seepage flow
through those.

Introduction

Philippines are having a total of 18 dams located in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. Dams
act as a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of water or underground streams. Reservoirs
created by dams not only to put down floods but also supply water for activities such as
irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aquaculture and navigability. Dams generally
serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates are used
to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. One of the famous dams in the
Philippines is La Mesa Dam and Reservoir. It is an earth dam whose reservoir can hold up to
50.5 million cubic meters and occupying an area of 27 square kilometers located in Quezon
City, Philippines. It provides most of the water supply of Metro Manila.

The effect of seepage flows when flowing through dams or flowing around structures in
the water is a key factor in civil engineering. Seepage flow refers to the flow of a fluid
particularly water in permeable soil layers such as sand. The fluid fills the pores in the
unsaturated bottom layer and moves into the deeper layers as a result of the effect of gravity.
The soil has to be permeable so that the seepage water is not stored. If the seepage water
encounters an impermeable soil layer or impermeable rock, seepage will no longer take place
and the seepage water accumulates permanently. Such underground water accumulations are
known as groundwater. Seepage flows must not be ignored in the preservation of groundwater,
in order to avoid contamination by construction, fertilizers, chemicals or mineral oils. In
engineering, flow processes such as those that occur in seepage flows are used in filter
technology. In this case, fluid flows through a pore space for the purposes of cleaning or
separation of media.
 The analysis of seepage flow through a dam, a ditch for excavation or under a weir, as
well as the determination of groundwater flow in sinks and sources can be done via drawings
using a flow net, also known as a potential net. The evaluation determines seepage flow rate,
pressure distribution on the structure being observed and other safety considerations. The
streamlines in a flow net are drawn in two dimensions. The potential lines connect the points
with the same potential, in this case the same water levels. The streamlines run perpendicular
to the potential lines, because the water flows on the shortest route from the higher potential to
the low potential.

Materials and Methods

Technical/ Experimental

This study will focus on determining the flow lines under sheet pile. In order to perform
the visualization of seepage flow, you need to have following apparatus • Dye, HM 169
(Visualization of Seepage Flows), Sand , Water.

For the procedure for “Fill with sand” first insert the screen plate while turning the seals
to the sand. Insert the “sheet pile” model between the pressure measurement points 7 and 8,
turning the seal to the left. Screw the model to the slot nuts in the rails. The sheet pile divides the
experiment tank into a left and a right basin. The distance between the bottom of the experiment
tank and the lower edge of the sheet pile should be approximately 120mm. Next, tape up the
rails, for example with masking tape, to prevent sand getting into the rails. Pour the sand into the
experiment tank and/or distribute the existing sand. There should be approximately 300mm of
sand above the bottom of the experiment tank. Then, adjust the left overflow pipe so that its top
edge is approximately 500mm above the bottom of the experiment tank. Adjust the right
overflow pipe so that its top edge is approximately 350mm above the bottom of the experiment
tank.Bleed the injection lances and fill the dye tank. Lastly insert the injection lances into the
sand.
 For the procedure for “ Fill with water” first Turn on the pump and let the water slowly
flow into the experiment tank until the left and right basins are filled up to the upper edge of the
respective overflow tubes. Next, adjust the flow rate with the inlet valve so that there is a
constant water level.

For the procedure for “Observe the experiment”, if necessary, bleed the manometer
tubes.Next, open the 3 valves on the dye tank slightly and wait until dye flows out of the
injection lances and the flow lines are visible. If the flow lines are too wide: Close the valves on
the dye tank slightly. If too little or no dye comes out: Open the valves on the dye tank further.
Then, observe and document the flow lines. Lastly, fix tracing paper to the glass pane and use a
pen to transfer the outlines of the sand bed and the flow lines onto the tracing paper.
Alternatively, take a photo to the experiment.

Results

Trial 1 (For 3 Pile Sheet With constant h2=0.05m)

No. of
Permeability No. of flow Discharge
Set up equipotential
(k) tubes (Nf) (m3/sec)
drops (NH)
1 10-5 m/sec 4 8 7.5x10-7 m3/sec
2 10-5 m/sec 4 8 5.0x10-7 m3/sec
3 10-5 m/sec 4 8 2.5x10-7 m3/sec

 Setup 1 (h1=0.200m)

Q= k x (Nf / NH) x (h1 – h2)

Q = (10-5 m/sec) (0.200 – 0.05)m
Q1= 7.5x10-7 m3/sec

 Setup 2 (h1=0.150m)

Q2= k x (Nf / NH) x (h1 – h2)

Q2 = (10-5 m/sec) (0.150 – 0.05)m
Q2= 5.0x10-7 m3/sec

 Setup 3 (h1=0.100m)

Q3= k x (Nf / NH) x (h1 – h2)

Q3 = (10-5 m/sec) (0.100– 0.05)m
Q3= 2.5x10-7 m3/sec

TRIAL 2 (For 3 Pile Sheet With constant h2=0.025m)

No. of
Permeability No. of flow Discharge
Set up equipotential
(k) tubes (Nf) (m3/sec)
drops (NH)
1 10-5 m/sec 4 8 8.75x10-7 m3/sec
2 10-5 m/sec 4 8 6.25x10-7 m3/sec
3 10-5 m/sec 4 8 3.75x10-7 m3/sec

 Setup 1 (h1=0.200m)

Q= k x (Nf / NH) x (h1 – h2)

Q = (10-5 m/sec) (0.200 – 0.025)m
Q1= 8.75x10-7 m3/sec

 Setup 2 (h1=0.150m)
Q2= k x (Nf / NH) x (h1 – h2)
Q2 = (10-5 m/sec) (0.150 – 0.025)m
Q2= 6.25x10-7 m3/sec

 Setup 3 (h1=0.100m)

Q3= k x (Nf / NH) x (h1 – h2)

Q3 = (10-5 m/sec) (0.100– 0.025)m
Q3= 3.75x10-7 m3/sec
 Conclusion

This experiment mainly focus in the behavior of liquid flows through the respective
setups. The adherence to the standards of the manual, and procedures observed step by step,
proved to aid in the two parts’ eventual success.

Part I, seepage through sheet pile, tried to produce the same result. In this case, it may be
concluded that the fluid flow is exerting too much force to try and “lift” the sheet pile, so much
so, the fluid flow beneath the sheet pile started to collect together at one point. When the valves
were adjusted to attempt to enable the three lances to allow dyed medium to flow through the
sheet pile model, the setting must have been too low that the seepage flow map produced was a
little blurry but nevertheless the three lances were able to show a map of some sort of the
seepage flow beneath the sheet pile model. When one lance allowed medium flow to occur at a
time, the seepage flows were clearer.
A sheet pile proves to be most efficient. This is because apart from its sustainability and
mobility; this set up provides slower velocity for fluid travel and smaller magnitude in flow
rate, this, compared to the earth dam set up is a lot safer and controllable in the field.

Statistical Analysis of Data

 References
J.M.M.C Marques. Experimental Study of Groundwater Flow. Retrieved from
http://www.online-journals.org/index.php/i-joe/article/viewFile/1098/1124
Liu Hong. Improved difference method in numerical simulation of linear seepage flow.
Retrieved from http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/6025948/
Tetsuro Goda. Seepage flow analysis on caisson-type breakwater reinforced with sheet piles
by using the SPH method. Retrieved from http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7890730/
Li Shen. Study on radical well structure of integrating seepage flow and pipe flow. Retrieved
from http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/5892984/
Changjun Zhu. Non-darcy seepage modeling of groundwater flow and its simulation. Retrieved
from http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/5156657/
J.C Marques. SEEPTOOL — A remote demo for small scale seepage problems.
Retrieved from http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/6703073/
Arindam Singha. An investigation of the effect of suction and injection in open channel flow.
Retrieved from http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/6014880/
Huamei Liu. Open GL-Based Conceptual Models and Algorithms for Visualization of Three-
Dimensional Fracture Networks and Flow Paths. Retrieved from
http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/5677184/
Jamal Stevenson. A comparative study to the 2011/2013 water quality assessments in the
Pasquotank Watershed in Northeastern North Carolina with a sea level rise component.
Retrieved from http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7325722/
D. Santillan. Dam seepage analysis based on artificial neural networks: The hysteresis
phenomenon. Retrieved from http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/6707110/
P. Komeswarakul. Remote terminal unit for automatic dam monitoring system using a
microcontroller. Retrieved from http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/6060456/
Junru Chai. On Water Loads of Concrete Dams for Hydropower Generation. Retrieved from
http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/4918558/
 TECHNOLOGICAL INSTITUTE OF THE PHILIPPINES
1338 ARLEGUI ST., QUIAPO, MANILA

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING AND ARCHITECTURE

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

FLUID MECHANICS
CE 411- CE41FA2

FINAL REQUIREMENT
MANUSCRIPT

“Determining The Course of the Flow Line Under a Sheet Pile Through a Visualization Of
Seepage Flows”

SUBMITTED TO:
__________________________
ENGR. WINIFREDO GONZALES

SEPTEMBER , 2018