A mathematical model for piping

J. B. SelImeijer
Delft Geotechnics, Delft, The Netherlands

M. A. Koenders
Department of Physics, Kingston Polytechnic, Kingston on Thames, Surrey, UK

A mathematical model is presented to describe the phenomenon ofsoil erosion under a dam (commonly
called "piping"). The analysis presented deals with the groundwater ./low problem when a narrow
channel is present under a dam. The material from the channel is deposited in front of the dam in a
"sand boil." The resulting boundary value problem for the Darcyan seepage flow is solved. The
solution is complicated by the occurrence of abrupt behavior at the ends of the piping channel. These
are investigated with the use of hypergeometrlc functions. The solutions are made accessible to the
civil engineer in the form ofa design rule-a formula that encases all practically occurring parameters.

Keywords: seepage, erosion, piping, boundary value problem, hypergeometric functions

therefore the upper boundary of the flow domain is

Introduction
This paper deals with a problem in dam design. Under
consideration is a water barrier with a high water level
on one side and a low level on the other. The water
pressure difference induces a groundwater flow in the
subsoil. The flow may be sufficiently powerful to cause
erosion. This effect is commonly known as "piping,"
and clearly, civil engineers would like to be able to
design against it. One of the properties of piping is that
when some erosion has taken place, the effect may
stop. Thus the key question is to predict an equilibrium
situation in which some material has washed away from
underneath the structure. Empirically, it has been found
that a so-called piping channel or slit comes into ex-
istence, extending from the downstream corner of the
structure to a length of less than half the bottom length
of the dam. At the same time, some material is de-
posited in front of the structure, in what is called a
"sandboil." Because the permeability in the channel
is much greater than that of the surrounding soil, the
hydraulic gradients, which brought it into existence,
are damped down, and thus equilibrium may be reached.
To model the effect accurately, therefore, the channel
must be taken into account.
The geometry of the situation is sketched in Figure
1. A two-dimensional approach is taken. The structure
is assumed to have a flat bottom with length L, and
Address reprint requests to Dr. Koenders at the Department of
Physics, Kingston Polytechnic, Penrhyn Road, Kingston on Thames,
Surrey KTl 2EE, UK.
Received 29 August 1989; accepted 26 June 1991
also flat. The sand boil has length b; the sandboil and
slit together have a length l. The latter has a vertical
dimension a. The difference in water level is H. The
subsoil is taken to be homogeneous with permeability
k. The purpose of the exercise is to calculate what
possible equilibrium situation may occur without any
further material washing away. This involves an anal-
ysis of the forces on the particles on the lower edge of
the piping channel. The problem entails a variety of
length scales: the characteristic dimension of the struc-
ture, the length and vertical dimension of the slit, the
size of the sandboil, and the size of the particles. Sur-
prisingly, the combination of parameters that marks
the edge of stability can be encased in one relatively
simple formula. This will enable civil engineers to eval-
uate quickly how safe the design is and how sensitive
to a variation in parameters. It is especially the latter
aspect that makes the exercise below worthwhile.
To our knowledge a complete model, i.e., one that
includes a piping channel, has not been published be-
fore. Calculations of a homogeneous substrate with a
linear groundwater flow model have been published by
Muller-Kirchenbauer;' Sellmeiier,? and Hanses et al.'
General outline of the model
The main problem is to model accurately the physical
effects near the downstream corner of the structure.
The upstream side is not at all critical, and boundary
conditions on this side of the structure are adapted for
mathematical convenience. At some distance x = L
for y = 0 the pressure is set to a fixed value H. The
primary variable of the problem is the piezometric head

646 Appl. Math. Modelling, 1991, Vol. 15, Nov./Dec. © 1991 Butterworth-Heinemann
 Piping: J. B. Sellmeijer and M. A. Koenders
iy

piping channel

piping ehanne!

sand Ijl=O F=O

sand

Figure 1. Geometry

<p, which is expressed everywhere in equivalent water

height. In the subsoil, ¢ satisfies Darcy's Law v =
k a¢lax, where k is the hydraulic permeability and v
the specific discharge. The equation of continuity holds:
av/ax = 0; hence
2
cP + a
(- -)
ax2 a 2 y
¢=o (1)
$=H
For x > I, y = 0 the impermeability condition a¢/ay $=0
= 0 is imposed. On the other side, x < 0, Y = 0, the
pressure has a fixed value ¢ = O. The critical phe-
sand
nomena take place near the boundary 0 < x < I, y =
O. Here are the sandboil (0 < x < b) and the piping
channel (b < x < I). The sandboil has height hex). The Figure 3. Boundary conditions
vertical dimension of the piping channel is a slowly
varying function of the horizontal position a(x). All
dimensions are given in Figure 2. For all practical pur- In Figure 3(a) the boundary conditions are sum-
poses it turns out that b < < L, a(x) < < L, and marized. For x < 0 the head is constant, ¢ = 0; for
hex) «L. 0< x < I, ¢ satisfies a function F(a¢lax, 8¢/ay, ¢) =
The boundary conditions for the groundwater flow 0; and for x> I the vertical discharge vanishes, B¢/ay
problem in the sandboil and on the lower edge of the = 0, but at the point x = L, ¢ is fixed at ¢ = H.
slit have an unusual character. They will be written as
a connection between a¢lax, a¢lay, and ¢, which fol-
lows from a limiting stability condition of the particles
°
It is noted that the problem illustrated in Figure 3(b)
(x < 0, ¢ = 0; x > 0, B¢lay = and x = L, ¢ = H)
has a well-known solution to the problem, which is
of the wall of the channel and the continuum of which quoted by Verruijt." By perturbing this solution a so-
the sandboil is made. Other unknowns are the depth lution to the problem of Figure 3(a) is found.
of the channel and the height and shape of the boil. For the function F, conditions have been derived
However, these are again linked through the fact that by Sellmeiier." These follow from considering the physics
the total volume of the channel must equal the volume of the limiting equilibrium in the piping channel and in
deposited in the boil, which will determine the dimen- the sandboiI. The result is
sions of the deposit.
In the sandboil

-'YII' q + P
- cot if,
'¥ =1 (2)
'Y; q

h=~ (3)
q

piping channel In the piping channel

b
.. t
.. L Cq + p (2~ + 1) cot <I> = 'Y~ (4)
1T'T) d 'Yw
sand
pa3 == 12KQ (5)

Figure 2. Schematization
For 0 < x < I the potential at y = is called P:P = °
¢(x, 0); p and - q are the horizontal and vertical de-

Appl. Math. Modelling, 1991, Vol. 15, Nov.lDec. 647

Piping: J. B. Sellmeijer and M. A. Koenders
rivatives, p = a4>lax and q = -a4>lay, both in y = o. integral with respect to r, this becomes
Q represents the discharge through the slit and is de- I
termined by q = -dQldx. Formula (2) is derived by
imposing force equilibrium on an infinitesimal element ta = ~JP(r)
7Tl
of soil at the slope of the boil. The forces are associated o
with the components of the hydraulic gradient p and
q and the weight of the soil. A limiting condition is
provided by Coulomb's friction criterion. Formula (3)
x {§-z
---+--:YT=Z
/-rr- z
JI
dr 2
7Tl
dr
p(r)--
~.
(10)
is arrived at by solving the groundwater flow problem o
in the sandboil, employing p and q as boundary con- A complex integration constant should be added; how-
ditions at the bottom of the boil in addition to the fact ever. since the real part of (J) vanishes at Z = 0 and
that the pressure must vanish on the surface of the the imaginary part at z == i this constant vanishes. Note
boil. Formula (4) represents the limiting force equilib- that for z - 7 00, (10) has the character VZ, which cor-
rium of a grain on the edge of the channel." Formula responds to the solution associated with the boundary
(5) is the equation of continuity of the flow in the chan- conditions of Figure 3(b) .4
nel. The various soil parameters are indicated in the The task now is to find expressions for P(x). The
Nomenclature. function P(x) is smooth everywhere except at the points
x = 0, x = b, and x == I. This follows directly from
the fact that the imposed boundary conditions abruptly
Solution of the groundwater flow problem change character at these points. This must be kept in
The Laplace equation (I) is solved using complex vari- mind during the elaboration of the related functions
able techniques. The plane (x, y) is now a complex P(x) , Q(x) , p(x) , and q(x) , and special arrangements
plane, and the potential 4> is extended with the stream must be put forward.
function 'l': If z has a finite imaginary part, the integrand in
formula (8) is regular; however, for real z a singularity
z = x + iy w = c/J + il/J (6)
appears at Z = r. The real part of dwldz is just the
8
Following Polubarinova-Kochina , Chapter VI, the de- contribution of the res idue of the pole at this point.
rivative dwldz may be written as an integral over the The imaginary part is just the Cauchy integral without
real axis y = 0: the pole . The latter is < q:
,
J
cc

dwldz =.=..!.. Re (dwldr) ~ (7) q =.l J per) ~I - z .e: OI )

~ 7Ti
-x
vr=r 1'- z 7TJ
o
t-rr-x
The function to the left of the equal sign is chosen such Scale all lengths on l, so that
that along the edge of the half plane its real part van-
ishes for x < 0, due to p = 0, and for x> l, due to q x == xll 0< X< I
(12)
= O. By applying these boundary conditions and the p = rll 0 <p< I
value of the horizontal gradient in the sandboil and slit,
defined by p, formula (7) reduces to To obtain q from p (p == dPldx), the function pep) must
be known throughout the whole interval 0 < p < 1. To
-
dz 7Ti
o
J
I
dw=--1 p er) -z - dr
I - I' r - Z
12- establish the character of the contribution of pep) in
the neighborhood of a point where an abrupt change
takes place, the function is written as a smooth part j5

=- -
.)J' per)
7Tl
o
€- - r (dr
- + dr-) (8)
I- z r- z I-r
and a part that approaches the abrupt change with some
power function. For example, near x = 0,
p(x) = jj(x) + p~' (13)
By integrating the first integral of the right-hand side where p is a constant. Using (13) in (11), the definition
by parts this is rearranged to of a hypergeometric function is recognized ; see Abra-
I mowitz and Stegun ,? formula (15.3.1):
dw =
dz:
~Jp(r):!...
7T1 dr
(~/- 1' _ 1 )
1- z r - z
dr
p VT=X rmro + €)
o q=
, 7T X rOi + e)
- ~7Ti ~1-I z Jper) --.!!!.-
-vr:::r (9) X F ( 1, I + e;Ii + e;~) - et:
o

+ .l 1; p(r) ~I
where the definition of P in the previous section was
used (P vanishes at x = 0). After integration with re- - x---.!!L
spect to z, considering the differentiation of the first 7TJ I-pp-X
o

648 Appl. Math. Modelling, 1991, Vol. 15, Nov./Dec.

 Piping: J. B. Se/lmeijer and M. A. Koenders
This may be elaborated by employing Abramowitz and Comparing the coefficients ofX'~ 1 and using (16) gives
Stegun? (formulas 15.3.9, 15.3.6, and 15.3.3) to give
p f(!)f(E) 1
E = <1>/11' (20)
q = 7Tf(! + E)F(-E,2; 1 - E;X)
A and B are associated with the smooth parts of the
I solution and are irrelevant for the determination of E.
- pg- cot (7TE) + .!.. J per) ~l - X -!!L (14)
Similar reasoning gives the behavior near x = l.
However, here the roles of p and q are interchanged.
11') I-pp-x
o This is possible because instead of the function p(x)
The boundary condition for x = 0 has the form (2). an alternative function q(l - x) can be employed. A
For x ~ 0, p ~ O. In order to establish the value of E similar system of equations is obtained, where q and
the behavior of the derivative of q is investigated. Q play the roles of p and P (p-type and q-type solu-
Varying (2), multiplied by q, gives tions). The freedom offered is exploited to determine
the character of the solution near x = l and x = b.
2 /'... q dq + dp cot <1> = dq (15) Near x = 'the dominant variation in F turns out to
be (see formula (4»
Y.: dX dX dX
From (2) it follows that for x ~ 0, q i q.:.lq". (the root dq dp
q = 0 does not represent a physically realistic solu- C-+-cot 8 =0
dx dx
ex i 1) (21)
tion). Using this, (15) reduces to
dq dp In deriving (21) it was assumed that E < i in the neigh-
- +- cot <1> =0 (X ~ 0) (16) borhood of X-I, which is true for all practical pur-
dX dX
poses. Since we are dealing with q-type solutions,
This behavior is now compared with the behavior given equations (I8) and (19) take the form
by (14). For X ~ 0 the third term is linear in X, as can
be seen from the choice of the smooth function 15, dp -
which has lowest order proportional to X. The first term - = B - tjEX·- 1 cot (7TE) (X i 1) (22)
dx
in (14) also approaches X ~ 0 in a linear manner. The
second term has derivative
-dq = A- + qEX'- I (X i 1) (23)
(X ~ 0) (17) dX
Altogether, introducing constants A and B, The resulting E becomes

dq = A - pEX'- I cot (7TE) (X ~ 0) (18) E = i-arctan (C tan 8)/11' (24)

dx
and Near x = b there may be additional difficulties; these
are discussed below. For the moment it is assumed
(X ~ 0) (19) that the abrupt changes in p and q are similar to the
ones already discussed and have the form

p=O O<x<b p = P c--,b

-r b<x<'
(25)
q=O b<x<' q=-tj-,-
e-bY O<x<b

These are two separate patterns, each with its own strength indicated by p and ij. The corresponding variations
are

-dx (b -
dp = -tjE - -
,
X)'-I cot (7TE)
(lim x t
dq
dX
(b- l--x).- + (b - x)
= ijE
I
pe - , - CSC (7Te)
b)

(26)
dp
dx = PE
(X - b) + qe (x- -, -b) esc
-/-
E- I
(7TE)
(lim x ~ b)
-dq = pE (x---b)E-l cot (7TE)
dX l

Appl. Math. Modelling, 1991, Vol. 15, Nov.lDec. 649

Piping: J. B. Sellmeijer and M. A. Koenders
The variation in F takes the form HlL is the typical design quantity. All others, except
ll l., are soil and water characteristics, which are given
(
2 -1'", q - 1) -dq + -dp cot m.
'¥ == 0 x<b for a certain site. Figure 4 shows the value of H/L as
'Y~ dX dX (27) a function of ilL, the length of the piping channel in
terms of the length of the structure. l/L typically must
C
dq
+ dp (~~ +
dX dX 7TTfd
1) cot e == 0 b<x be such that less than a certain percentage of the struc-
ture is undermined. It is observed that H/L is at a
thus leading to equations in E, p, and ij, maximum at roughly l/L == l. If the piping channel is
shorter than half the length of the structure, a small
ij ( cot <I> cot (7TE) - 1) == Pesc (7TE) variation in water level will lead to a similar small
variation in slit length. All the time equilibrium is as-
2- q - 1
'Y",
sumed to be present. If the piping channel is longer
'Y~
(28) than half the length of the structure, an increase of the
P (~t:n e cot (7TE) - 1) == ijcsc (7TE) water level would demand a shortening of the slit. This
is impossible, since slit formation is an irreversible
--+ 1 process, and therefore no equilibrium is found. Hence
7TTfd
the maximum values of the curves in Figure 4 represent
Multiplying these two equations yields a single equa- critical design values. These maxima are now ex-
tion for E. Using the shorthand pressed in a formula that summarizes many calcula-
cot cI> C tan e tions for a wide variety of soil parameters. The formula
cot Ii == cot f-L == 2 a (29) is obtained by curve fitting and reads
2 1'1V q - 1 - - + 1 H l'
1'~ 7T'Yj d - == c .u:tan e (1 - 0.65c°.42) 3
L 1'". 3(d2d
the value of € can be expressed as C == t?T7) 'J-;;!i (34)
cot (?T€) = cot (!7T - Ji - f-L) (30)
1
No continuous result is guaranteed by (30). The dif- 0.9
ficulty referred to above arises for values of E close to 0.8
unity when the cotangent jumps. In this case the vari- 0.7
ations as expressed by the power functions attain a 0.6 L/lOOOd
linear character. The approximation made is then no 0.5
longer valid in that the smooth part becomes of the HIL
same order as the variational part. It can be demon- 0.4
strated that in this region of material parameters the
whole solution becomes logarithmic in character. If a
parameter range is encountered where this occurs, then
no variational behavior is needed.
0.3
~
4
-- ........ ......
r--.
40
As at the other two singular points there is only one
degree of freedom. The constants p and ij are related
0.2

~
-, ~
to each other by equation (30) and one of the equations r-, r-,
of (28). This relation turns out to be
400
cos (Ji + 7TE) ij ==
or equivalently,
p sin Ji (31) 0.1
0.09
0.08
0.07
~ -- -...
r-,
cos (J.L + ?TE) P = ij sin f-L (32)
0.06
r-,
After subtracting the singularities in x == 0, b, and l 0.05
the remainder of the potential at y == 0 is determined
from the integral equation (14) with a numerical rou- 0.04
tine. The function is approximated using a piecewise
linear estimate. The routine is found to be stable over 0.03
the entire range of practically feasible parameters. Fig-
ures 4 and 5 show the results.
0.02

Summary of the results

All variables can be grouped into meaningful clusters.
These are elL
om
H H (l K d "y~ 1';)
== L L-;d 2'L-,<I>,e,c,'Yj,-,- (33)
0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.70.80.9 1
L 'YIV 1'", Figure 4. Hydraulic head versus erosion length

650 Appl. Math. Modelling, 1991, Vol. 15, Nov./Dec.

 Piping : J. B. Se/lmeijer and M. A. Koenders
0.7 which gives the maximum of H/L with an accuracy
0.6
0.5
..
\
"',," , ......
better than 3% for all values of c < 0.44. This includes
the entire range of values possible in practice. Note
...... ...... that the parameters of the sandboil play no significant
0.4

0.3
....... role .
0.2

0.\
Nomenclature
o
o 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
q; submerged unit weight of soil, kN/m 3
x/t q~ submerged unit weight of particles , kN/m 3
qw unit weight of water, kN/m 3
0.5 ep internal friction angle, deg
0.4
I-p- .. ~-- ,...~!!... _.9.'/_1 o bedding angle, deg
I
\
L/JOOOd =40 d particle diameter, m
0.3 \
C coefficient of Martin?
t·~·~·~-:-·····---·--······_··---·-·······
0.2
-.. ~~- .
Tj coefficient of White"

0,\
....... , " ,~. : .:: . ~ ,~.:.::.:':.~.~ .. References
o 1 Muller-Kirchenbauer. H. Zum zeitlichen Verlauf der ruck-
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 schreitenden Erosion in geschichtetem Untergrund unter Dam-
x/t men und Stauanlagen. Presented at Talsperrensymposium , Mu-
nich , FRG, 1978.
0.3 2 Sellmeijer, J. B., Piping due to flow towards ditches and holes .
0.25 I- p- ._~ .. I
,
I
Proceedings 0/ Eurom ecli 143. Delft, Netherlands , 1981, pp .
69-72
0.2
1.I1000d = 400 ,
I'
3 Hanses, U. , Milller-Kirchenbauer, H. , and Stavros , S. Zur
,.., .." Mechanik der ruckschreitenden Erosion unter Deichen und
0.\5 ~ _.'. Dammen. Baute chnik 1985 , 5, 163-168
I ~~~ • • • • • _ • • • • • • _ •• _ •• _ • • • • • • • • • --
I ....
4 Verruijt, A. Theory 0/ Ground water Flow. Macmillan, New
0.\
York,I970
0,05
, , .. .. ,.~..~..~
, , :::.:::.~._.~.:.:.:.~ . 5 Sellmeijer, J. B. On the mechanism of piping under impervious
structures. Ph.D. Thesis, Delft , The Netherlands, Oct. 1988
o 6 White, C. W. The equilibrium of grains on the bed of a stream .
o 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 Proc. R. So c. London 1940, 174A, 322-338
xlt 7 Martin, C. S . Effect ofa porous sand bed on incipie nt motion.
Water Resour . Res . 1970,6, 1162-1174
Figure 5. Distributions of P, P, q, and Q for IlL = 0.4
8 Polubarinova-Kochina, P. Ya , Theory of Groundwater Move-
ment. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, 1962
9 Abramowitz, M. and Stegun , I. A. Handbook of Mathematical
Functions. Dover, New York, 1968

Appl. Math. Modelling, 1991, Vol. 15, Nov./Dec. 651