SEEPAGE

Introduction
The flow of water through soil is not in one direction only, nor is it uniform over the entire area
perpendicular to the flow. In such cases, the groundwater flow is generally calculated by the use of graphs
referred to as flow nets. The concept of the flow net is based on Laplace’s equation of continuity.

Laplace’s Equation of Continuity

 The flow of water through soils is described by Laplace’s equation.

 It a combination of the equation of continuity and Darcy’s law.

 Used when the flow of water is in two directions.

The assumptions in Laplace’s equation are:
• Darcy’s law is valid.
• There is inviscid flow. This assumption means that the shear
stresses are neglected.
• The soil is homogeneous, isotropic and saturated.
• The soil and water are incompressible (no volume change
occurs).
Laplace equation of Continuity
water is incompressible and that no volume change in the soil mass 3
occurs, we know that the total rate of inflow should equal the total rate of
outflow.
Flow in = Flow out (Continuity equation)
 v x   v z 
place equation
v x dydz of
 vContinuity:
z dxdy   x
v  dx  dydz   z
v  dz  dxdy
 x   z 
Flow in = Flow out (Continuity v x v z equation
 0
From Darcy’s Law x z
Dar
dh dh
vx  k x vz  k z
dx dz
Substitute in continuity equation:
cy’s Law:  2h  2h
kx  kz 0
x 2
z 2

SubstIf soil is isotropic (i.e. kx = kz = k)

(i.e. kx = kz = k)  2h  2h
 0
x 2
z 2
Laplace’s equation expresses the condition that the changes of
hydraulic gradient in one direction are balanced by changes in the
other directions.
Laplace equation of Continuity:
 This equation governs the steady flow condition for a given point in
the soil mass.
 The solution of Laplace partial differential equation can be by
analytical, graphical, electrical analog or numerical methods.
 We will use Graphical solution which is known as flow net.
Flow net drawing are based on the following
assumptions
1. Soil is homogeneous.
2. Soil is Isotropic.

3. Soil is fully saturated.

4. No change in potential head with time.(Steady State Flow)
5. Soil and water are incompressible.

6. Flow is laminar and Darcy’s Law is valid.

7. All Boundary conditions are known.
Flow Nets
The continuity equation in an isotropic medium represents two orthogonal families
of
curves:
 The flow lines or stremlines: lines along which water particles will travel from upstream to the
downstream side in the permeable soil medium.
 The equipotential lines: lines along which the potential head at all points is
equal. Thus, if piezometers are placed at different points along an equipotential line,
the water level will rise to the same elevation in all of them.
  The flow net: is a combination of a number of flow lines and equipotential lines.
flow nets are constructed for:
• the calculation of ground-water flow
• the evaluation of heads in the media.

To complete the graphic construction of a flow net, one must draw the flow and
equipotential lines in such a way that:

1. The equipotential lines intersect the flow lines at right angles

2. The flow elements formed are approximate squares.

 ab and de are equipotential

lines so all the flow lines
intersect them at right angles.

 fg and acd are flow lines,

Thus The equipotential lines
intersect them at right angles.
Terminology and Properties
1. Streamlines or flow lines represent flow paths of particles of
water.
2. The area between two flow lines is called a flow channel.
3. The rate of flow in a flow channel is constant.
4. Flow cannot occur across flow lines.
5. The velocity of flow is normal to the equipotential line.
6. Flow lines and equipotential lines are orthogonal (perpendicular)
to each other.
7. The difference in head between two equipotential lines is called
the potential drop or head loss.
8. The area between two flow lines and equipotential lines is flow
field.
Criteria for Sketching Flow nets
A flow net must meet the following criteria:
1. The boundary conditions must be satisfied.
2. Flow lines must intersect equipotential lines at right angles.
3. The area between flow lines and equipotential lines must be
curvilinear squares. A curvilinear
square has the property that an inscribed circle can be drawn to
touch each side of the square and
continuous bisection results, in the limit, in a point.
4. The quantity of flow through each flow channel is constant.
5. The head loss between each consecutive equipotential line is
constant.
6. A flow line cannot intersect another flow line.
7. An equipotential line cannot intersect another equipotential
line.
 Interpretation of Flow Net
Seepage Calculation(Isotropic Soils)
The flow channel: is the strip between any two adjacent flow lines
• Let h1, h2, h3, h4, . . ., hn be the piezometric
levels corresponding to the equipotential
lines.
• The rate of seepage through the flow
channel per unit can be calculated as
follows:
Δq1 = Δq2 = Δq3 = …….. Δq

because there is no flow across the flow lines.

From Darcy’s law, the flow rate q = k i A. Thus:

• the potential drop is the drop in the piezometric level between any two adjacent
equipotential lines

• If the flow elements are drawn as approximate squares, the potential drop is the
same.

the total rate of flow through all the channels per unit length can be given by:

where H : head difference between the upstream and downstream sides

Nd: number of potential drops
Nf : number of flow lines
In case of rectangular mesh for a flow channel:
Seepage Anisotropic Soil
seepage calculation have been based on the assumption that the soil is
isotropic.
in nature, most soils exhibit some degree of anisotropy.

The rate of seepage per unit length can be calculated by

 Hydraulic Gradient
hydraulic gradient over each square by dividing the head loss by the length, L; that is

i=
L is not constant. Therefore, the hydraulic gradient is not constant. The maximum
hydraulic gradient occurs where L is a minimum; that is,
imax =
Usually, occurs at exit points or around corners
 Pore Pressure Distribution
The pore water pressure at any point j within the flow net is calculated
as follows
 Select a datum. Let us choose the downstream water level as the
datum
 Determine the total head at j: Hj = - (Nd)j * h, where(Nd)j is the
number of equipotential drops at point j; (Nd)j can be fractional.
 Subtract the elevation head at point j from the total head Hj to get the
pressure head.
 The pore water pressure is

Uj = (hp)j* w

where (hp)j is pressure head at J

Alternate Method
Measure the vertical distance from the upstream water level to the
point of interest and then subtract the total head loss up to that point.
Uplift Pressure Under Hydraulic Structures

• Flow nets can be used to determine the uplift pressure at the base of a hydraulic
structure.

Example
• Nd = 7
• H =7 m
• The head loss for
each potential drop is :
Δh = H/7 = 7/7= 1 m.

• The uplift pressure at “a”

= Pressure head at “a” x γw

= [(7+2) -1 (1)] γw = 8 γw

• The uplift pressure at “b”

= [(7+2) -2(1)] γw = 7 γw

• The uplift pressure at “f”

= [(7+2) -6(1)] γw = 3 γw
SAFETY AGAINST PIPING & HEAVE
In addition to calculating seepage losses and uplift pressures below hydraulic
structures, Flow nets can also be used to determine gradients especially at certain
critical points:
• At the toe of a dam in order to assess the potential for erosion and piping
• Or for upward seepage adjacent to a sheet pile in order to assess the potential
for heaving in the soil.

1. PIPING:
• Is a phenomenon where seeping water progressively
Exit
erodes or washes away soil particles, leaving large voids
in the soil.
• If uncontrolled collapse of structure
• Piping usually occurs at water stream exit

 Exit gradient : iExit = Δh/ l

 Factor of safety against piping
F.S = i cr/iexit ≥ 5-6

Where Δh: H/Nd

l: is the length of the square in the flow direction at
exit
2 Heaving
underground seepage may cause heaving of soil on the downstream side.
Terzaghi concluded that heaving generally occurs within a distance of D/2 from the sheet
piles (when D equals depth of embedment of sheet piles into the permeable layer).

Factor of safety against heave: F.S = i cr / iavg ≥ 4-5

i avg = average hydraulic gradient at the bottom of the block of soil (deduced from the
flow net.)
i avg = n Δh/l , where n is the number of drops from down stream to middle of block of
soil

i avg n = 1.8
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.

• 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.
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.
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 (1/5) D15 of the filter.

Terzaghi and Peck (1948) provided the following criteria to satisfy Condition 1: