Abstract: To obtain the effectiveness of relief-well, we performed two-dimensional seepage calculations on factors inclusive of penetration depth, pipe diameter, spacing, outlet elevation and filter-layer permeability by finite element method. According to the calculation results, we analyzed the effect of each factor on relief-well clogging and the influence regularities as follows: the penetration depth and filter-layer’s permeability have great impact on relief-well, and with the increase of penetration depth and filter-layer’s permeability, the effectiveness of relief-well gradually enhanced; pipe diameter has less effect on the relief-well, with the increase of pipe diameter, the effectiveness of relief-well gradually improved, but not much. The spacing between relief-wells and the elevation of outlet have not much influence on the effectiveness of relief-well.

Key words: relief-well, operation effect, finite element method, penetration depth, permeability