Journal of Changjiang River Scientific Research Institute ›› 2025, Vol. 42 ›› Issue (1): 186-193.DOI: 10.11988/ckyyb.20230931

• Rock-Soil Engineering • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Strength Degradation Mechanism and Predictive Model of Piping Soils under Seepage Failure

QIU Song-nan1(), LI Xiao-dong2(), ZHOU Peng-zhan3   

  1. 1 Faculty of Secondary Vocational Education,The Open University of China, Beijing 100039, China
    2 School of Mechanical Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, China
    3 Key Laboratory of Urban and Engineering Safety and Disaster Reduction of Ministry of Education, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China
  • Received:2023-08-25 Revised:2023-11-03 Published:2025-01-01 Online:2025-01-01
  • Contact: LI Xiao-dong

Abstract:

Due to its concealed development process and severe consequences, seepage failure poses a significant threat to hydraulic engineering projects. To investigate the strength degradation characteristics of piping soils before and after seepage failure, an internal erosion stress path triaxial apparatus was developed for geotechnical testing. Seepage failure tests and triaxial degradation tests were conducted using this apparatus, considering the influences of three critical factors: fine particle content, consolidation pressure, and hydraulic gradient. Results revealed that: 1)These three factors significantly impact the seepage failure process, thereby affecting the strength degradation behavior of piping soils. Specifically, higher fine particle content and consolidation pressure tend to mitigate the degree of degradation, while a higher hydraulic gradient significantly amplifies it. 2)A hyperbolic curve function was used to model the degradation degree of piping soils, and a seepage failure strength degradation model was established through numerical simulation software. These findings provide valuable insights for the structural integrity analysis of hydraulic constructions and the prediction of seepage-related disasters.

Key words: seepage failure, piping soil, deterioration degree, cumulative sand inflow, numerical simulation

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