286 Chapter 8 | Seepage

8.11 Filter Design

When seepage water flows from a soil with relatively fine grains into a coarser material,
there is danger that the fine soil particles may wash away into the coarse material. Over
a period of time, this process may clog the void spaces in the coarser material. Hence,
the grain-size distribution of the coarse material should be properly manipulated to
avoid this situation. A properly designed coarser material is called a filter. Figure 8.20
shows the steady-state seepage condition in an earth dam which has a toe filter. For
proper selection of the filter material, two conditions should be kept in mind:
Condition 1. The size of the voids in the filter material should be small enough
to hold the larger particles of the protected material in place.
Condition 2. The filter material should have a high hydraulic conductivity to
prevent buildup of large seepage forces and hydrostatic pressures
in the filters.
It can be shown that, if three perfect spheres have diameters greater than 6.5 times the
diameter of a smaller sphere, the small sphere can move through the void spaces of the
larger ones (Figure 8.21a). Generally speaking, in a given soil, the sizes of the grains
vary over a wide range. If the pore spaces in a filter are small enough to hold D85 of the
soil to be protected, then the finer soil particles also will be protected (Figure 8.21b).
This means that the effective diameter of the pore spaces in the filter should be less
than D85 of the soil to be protected. The effective pore diameter is about 15 D15 of the
filter. With this in mind and based on the experimental investigation of filters, Terzaghi
and Peck (1948) provided the following criteria to satisfy Condition 1:

D15(F)
# 4 to 5 (to satisfy Condition 1) (8.36)
D85(S)

In order to satisfy Condition 2, they suggested that

D15(F)
$ 4 to 5 (to satisfy Condition 2) (8.37)
D15(S)

where D15(F) 5 diameter through which 15% of filter material will pass
D15(S) 5 diameter through which 15% of soil to be protected will pass
D85(S) 5 diameter through which 85% of soil to be protected will pass

Toe filter
T
Seepage

Impermeable
layer

Figure 8.20 Steady-state seepage in an earth dam with a toe filter

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 8.11 Filter Design 287

Large sphere

Small sphere

(a)

Seepage of
water

Soil to be
Filter protected

D85(S) (b)
D15(F)

Figure 8.21 (a) Large spheres with diameters of 6.5 times the diameter of the small sphere;
(b) boundary between a filter and the soil to be protected

The U.S. Navy (1971) requires the following conditions for the design of filters.
Condition 1. For avoiding the movement of the particles of the protected soil,
D15(F)
,5 (8.38)
D85(S)

D50 (F)
, 25 (8.39)
D50 (S)

D15(F)
, 20 (8.40)
D15(S)

If the uniformity coefficient Cu of the protected soil is less than

1.5, D15(F)/D85(S) may be increased to 6. Also, if Cu of the protected
soil is greater than 4, D15(F)/D15(S) may be increased to 40.

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288 Chapter 8 | Seepage

Condition 2. For avoiding buildup of large seepage force in the filter,

D15(F)
. 4 (8.41)
D15(S)

Condition 3. The filter material should not have grain sizes greater than 76.2 mm
(3 in.). (This is to avoid segregation of particles in the filter.)
Condition 4. To avoid internal movement of fines in the filter, it should have no
more than 5% passing a No. 200 sieve.
Condition 5. When perforated pipes are used for collecting seepage water, fil-
ters also are used around the pipes to protect the fine-grained soil
from being washed into the pipes. To avoid the movement of the
filter material into the drain-pipe perforations, the following addi-
tional conditions should be met:
D85(F)
. 1.2 to 1.4
Slot width
D85(F)
. 1.0 to 1.2
Hole diameter

Example 8.8
The grain-size distribution of a soil to be protected is shown as curve a
in Figure 8.22. Given for the soil: D15(S) 5 0.009 mm, D50(S) 5 0.05 mm, and
D85(S) 5 0.11 mm. Using Eqs. (8.38) through (8.41), determine the zone of the
grain-size distribution of the filter material.

Solution
From Eq. (8.38),
D15(F)
,5
D85(S)
or
D15(F) , 5D85(S) 5 (5)(0.11) 5 0.55 mm

From Eq. (8.39),

D50(F)
, 25
D50(S)
or
D50(F) , 25D50(S) 5 (25)(0.05) 5 1.25 mm

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 8.11 Filter Design 289

100
b a
c
80
Acceptable
range of
good ffilter
60
Percent ffiner

Eq. (8.39)

40

20 Eq. (8.38) Eq. (8.40) Eq. (8.41)

0
3 1 0.1 0.01 0.005
Grain size (mm)

Figure 8.22

From Eq. (8.40),

D15(F)
, 20
D15(S)

or

D15(F) , 20D15(S) 5 (20)(0.009) 5 0.18 mm

From Eq. (8.41),

D15(F)
.4
D85(S)

or
D15(F) . 4D15(S) 5 (4)(0.009) 5 0.036 mm

The above calculations have been plotted in Figure 8.22. Curves b and c are
approximately the same shape as curve a. The acceptable range of good filter
falls between curves b and c.

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290 Chapter 8 | Seepage

8.12 Summary
Following is a summary of the subjects covered in this chapter.
● In an isotropic soil, Laplace’s equation of continuity for two-dimensional flow
is given as [Eq. (8.5)]:
−2h −2h
1 50
−x2 −z2
● A flow net is a combination of flow lines and equipotential lines that are two
orthogonal families of lines (Section 8.3).
● In an isotropic soil, seepage (q) for unit length of the structure in unit time
can be expressed as [Eq. (8.13)]
Nf
q 5 kH 1N 2 n
d

● The construction of flow nets in anisotropic soil was outlined in Section 8.5.
For this case, the seepage for unit length of the structure in unit time is
[Eq. (8.17)]
HNf
HN
q 5 Ï kxkz
Nd
● Seepage through an earth dam on an impervious base was discussed in
Section 8.8 (Schaffernak’s solution with Casagrande’s correction), Section 8.9
(L. Casagrande solution), and Section 8.10 (Pavlovsky’s solution).
● The criteria for filter design (Terzaghi and Peck, 1948) are given in
Section 8.11 [Eqs. (8.36) and (8.37)], according to which
D15(F)
# 4 to 5
D85(S)

and
D15(F)
$ 4 to 5
D15(S)

Problems
8.1 Refer to Figure 8.23. Given:
H1 5 D53m
H2 5 D1 5 6 m
Draw a flow net. Calculate the seepage loss per meter length of the sheet pile
(at a right angle to the cross section shown).

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