CIVN3004 - Geotechnical Engineering I

School of Civil and Environmental Engineering

University of the Witwatersrand

Problems on 2D Seepage

1. The flow net in Figure 1 illustrates the seepage that takes place under a sheet pile wall. The flow net consists of four
flow channels (nf = 4) and eight equipotential drops (nd = 8).
a. Identify the maximum equipotential line and indicate its total head.
It is line kb and it has a total head of h = 27 m.
b. Identify the minimum equipotential line and indicate its total head.
It is line hl and it has a total head of h = 19.5 m.
c. Assuming that the vertical and horizontal scale of the figure are the same, is this soil isotropic or anisotropic?
It is isotropic because the flow net consists of “square” elements.
d. If the soil has a permeability of k = 0.5 x 10-6 cm/s, what is the flow per unit depth (perpendicular to the plane
of the drawing)?
Q/L = kH∫ = (0.5 x 10-8 m/s)(27m - 19.5m)(4/8) = 18.75 x 10-9 m2/s
e. What is the head drop between adjacent equipotentials?
The total head drop is the difference between the maximum equipotential and the minimum equipotential. So
H = 27m - 19.5m = 7.5m. There are 8 head drops, so the answer is 7.5 m/8 ≈ 0.94 m
f. Given the elevation heads provided in the table below, calculate the total head, pressure head, and water
pressure of the different points shown in the figure (The answers are shown in italic - make sure that you
understand how they were calculated).
Elevation Total head Pressure Water pressure
Point
head (m) (m) head (m) (kN/m2)
a 27.0 27.0 0 0
b 18.0 27.0 9.00 88.3
c 14.7 26.06 11.36 111.4
d 11.7 25.13 13.43 131.7
e 9.0 23.25 14.25 139.8
f 11.7 21.38 9.68 95.0
g 14.7 20.44 5.74 56.3
h 18.0 19.5 1.50 14.7
i 19.5 19.5 0 0

Figure 1. Flow under sheet pile wall (Lambe & Whitman, 1969)
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2. The flow net in Figure 2 illustrates the seepage that takes place under a dam that has two cut-offs. The flow net
consists of four flow channels (nf = 4) and 12.6 equipotential drops (nd = 12.6). The incomplete head drop is defined
by the equipotential lines on either side of the centre line.
a. Identify the maximum equipotential line and indicate its total head.
It is ground level on the upstream (left) side of the dam and it has h = 28.2m
b. Identify the minimum equipotential line and indicate its total head.
It is ground level on the downstream (right) side of the dam and it has h = 20.4m
c. Identify the uppermost and lowermost flow lines.
Uppermost: ZABCDEFGHY (where point Z is defined by the intersection of the maximum equipotential and
the upstream face of the dam, and point Y is defined by the intersection of the minimum equipotential and the
downstream face of the dam). Lowermost: Interface between soil and impermeable bedrock.
d. Assuming that the vertical and horizontal scale of the figure are the same, is this soil isotropic or anisotropic?
It is isotropic because the flow net consists of “square” elements.
e. If the soil has a permeability of k = 0.05 cm/s, what is the flow per unit depth (perpendicular to the plane of
the drawing)?
Q/L = kH∫ = (0.05 x 10-2 m/s)(28.2m - 20.4m)(4/12.6) = 0.00124 m2/s
f. What is the head drop between adjacent equipotentials?
The total head drop is the difference between the maximum equipotential and the minimum equipotential. So
H = 28.2m - 20.4m = 7.8m. There are 12.6 head drops, so the answer is 7.8 m/12.6 ≈ 0.62 m
g. Given the elevation heads provided in the table below, calculate the total head, and pressure head of the
different points shown in the figure.
Elevation Total head Pressure
Point
head (m) (m) head (m)
A 12.9 26.3 13.4
B 18.0 25.4* 7.4
C 18.0 25.1 7.1
D 18.0 24.5 6.5
E 18.0 24.1 6.1
F 18.0 23.5 5.5
G 18.0 23.2* 5.2
H 12.9 22.3 9.4
*To calculate the total head of points B and G, it has been assumed that these points are halfway between
equipotential lines.

Figure 2. Flow under dam (Lambe & Whitman, 1969)

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3. Figure 3 illustrates the seepage conditions under a concrete dam corresponding to three situations: no cut-off (Dam
I), vertical cut-off on the upstream side (Dam II), and vertical cut-off on the downstream side (Dam III). For the three
cases nf = 4. For Dam I, nd = 11.8; whereas for Dams II and III, nd = 13.9. The soil is isotropic and has k = 5.15 x 10-6
m/s. Calculate:
a. The flow per unit depth.
Dam I: Q/L = kH∫ = (5.15 x 10-6 m/s)(6m)(4/11.8) = 10.5 x 10-6 m2/s
Dam II: Q/L = kH∫ = (5.15 x 10-6 m/s)(6m)(4/13.9) = 8.9 x 10-6 m2/s
Dam III: Q/L = kH∫ = (5.15 x 10-6 m/s)(6m)(4/13.9) = 8.9 x 10-6 m2/s
Note: The presence of the cut-off reduces flow, but the location of the cut-off does not affect Q/L.

Figure 3. Flow under dam (Lambe & Whitman, 1969)

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 b. What is the head drop between adjacent equipotentials?
Dam I: 6m/11.8 = 0.508m; Dam II: 6m/13.9 = 0.432m; Dam III: 6m/13.9 = 0.432m
Note: These head drops are not achieved entirely where 0.8ΔH or 0.9ΔH are indicated in the flow nets.
c. Calculate the total head of each equipotential line. Note: Equipotentials have been numbered from highest
total head to lowest total head. Remember that the max and min equipotentials coincide with ground level.
Dam I Dam II Dam III
Equipotential Total head Equipotential Total head Equipotential Total head
number (m) number (m) number (m)
1 18.00 1 18.00 1 18.00
2 17.49 2 17.57 2 17.57
3 16.98 3 17.14 3 17.14
4 16.48 4 16.71 4 16.71
5 15.97 5 16.27 5 16.27
6 15.46 6 15.84 6 15.84
7 15.05 7 15.41 7 15.45
8 14.55 8 14.98 8 15.02
9 14.04 9 14.59 9 14.59
10 13.53 10 14.16 10 14.16
11 13.02 11 13.73 11 13.73
12 12.51 12 13.29 12 13.30
13 12.00 13 12.86 13 12.86
-- -- 14 12.43 14 12.43
-- -- 15 12.00 15 12.00

d. Calculate the pwp at: Point A for Dam I, and the bottom of the cut-off for Dam II and III.
Point A in Dam I: TH = (13.02m + 12.51m)/2 = 12.77 m; EH = 10.5 m;
PH = TH - EH = 12.77 m - 10.5 m = 2.27 m; PWP = 2.27 m x 9.8 kN/m3 = 22.25 kN/m2
Bottom of cut-off in Dam II: TH = 16.27 m; EH = 6 m;
PH = TH - EH = 16.27 m - 6 m = 10.27 m; PWP = 10.27 m x 9.8 kN/m3 = 100.65 kN/m2
Bottom of cut-off in Dam III: TH = 13.73 m; EH = 6 m;
PH = TH - EH = 13.73 m - 6 m = 7.73 m; PWP = 7.73 m x 9.8 kN/m3 = 75.75 kN/m2
Notice: These pwp values can be used to calculate the effective stress (σ') if the total stress (σ) is known.

4. Figure 4 illustrates seepage conditions through an anisotropic and zoned earth dam. The horizontal scale has been
altered to account for anisotropy.

Figure 4. Flow through a zoned earth dam (Lambe & Whitman, 1969)

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a. What is the head drop between adjacent equipotentials?
The maximum equipotential has a total head of 60 m. The minimum equipotential has a total head of 0 m. So
the total head drop is 60 m. The number of head drops is nd = 10. So the answer is 60m/10 = 6m.
b. What is the elevation head at point B?
Noting that the base of the dam is at elevation 0m and the reservoir rises to 60m, the elevation head of point B
can be estimated as 21.1 m.
c. What is the total head at point B?
Noting that point B lies on the third equipotential drop, then TH = 60m - (3 x 6m) = 42 m.
d. What is the pwp at point B?
PH = TH - EH = 42m - 21.1m = 20.9 m; PWP = 20.9m x 9.8kN/m3 = 205 kN/m2
e. Calculate the flow per unit depth.
We can use the equation that we have been using for square flow nets (Q/L = kH∫) for the central portion of
the dam because this is the portion in which the flow net is actually square. The flow net on the right hand
side of the drawing also looks square but it is only because the flow lines have been discontinued on this
portion. Now we need to determine the permeability that we will work with. Notice that the central portion has
two permeabilities associated to it: kh and kv. These two permeabilities have to be combined into a single
effective permeability ke = √(kh∙kv). For this case: ke = √(0.5 x 10-5 cm/s ∙ 0.5 x 10-6 cm/s) = 1.581 x 10-8 m/s.
Noticing that there are approximately 8.7 flow channels, we can now compute: Q/L = (1.581 x 10-8
m/s)(60m)(8.7/10) = 8.25 x 10-7 m2/s.