INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GEOLOGY

Issue 4, Volume 4, 2010

Effect of Horizontal Drains on Upstream Slope

Stability During Rapid Drawdown Condition
S. M. Ali Zomorodian*, S. Mehdi Abodollahzadeh, *Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran
Abstract The rapid drawdown case is one of the most severe
loading conditions that an earthen slope can experience and it
is quite common in embankment dams. Rapid drawdown can
cause a temporary increase in pore water pressure. The
increased seepage forces may lead to slope instability, causing
the collapse of structure. This paper discusses the effect of
horizontal drains on upstream slope of earthfill dams during
rapid drawdown using finite elements and limit equilibrium
methods. Changing of pore water pressure, outpouring seepage
flow and factor of safety are inspected.

One of the most effective methods of dissipation of excess

pore pressure and improvement of stability is use of upstream
drains. These upstream drains are capable of draining the
upstream slope and making the equipotential lines tend to
become horizontal. They have a very significant effect on the
stability of the upstream slope during rapid drawdown [8].
II. Theory of water flow in saturated and unsaturated soils
Seepage flows in saturated and unsaturated soils are governed
by Darcys law. One of the major differences between water
flows in saturated soils and flows in unsaturated soils is that
the coefficient of permeability is not a constant but a function
of the degree of saturation or soil suction in an unsaturated
soil. The governing equation for water flow through soil can
be obtained by introducing Darcys law into the mass
continuity equation. The deformation of the soil skeleton is
usually ignored for convenience. Taking the total hydraulic
head h as the unknown and when the directions of the
coordinate axes are the same as the directions of anisotropy of
hydraulic conductivity, the general two-dimensional governing
differential equation for water flow through soil is as follows:

Keywords earthfill dams, rapid drawdown, drain, stability,

finite element method.
I. INTRODUCTION

Embankments may become saturated by seepage flow during a

long term high reservoir stage. If subsequently the reservoir
pool is drawn down faster than the pore water can escape,
excess pore water pressures and reduced stability will result.
This is called drawdown which is quite common in upstream
slopes of embankment dams [3].
The stability of slopes under drawdown conditions are usually
analyzed considering two limiting conditions, namely slow and
rapid drawdown. In the slow drawdown situation the water
level within the slope is assumed to equalize the reservoir level
at any time. In case of rapid drawdown, which represents the
most critical condition, it is assumed that the pore water
pressure within the embankment continues to reflect the
original water level. The lag of the phreatic line depends on
factors such as: permeability of soils, drawdown rate,
drawdown ratio and slope gradient [1].
When the countervailing upstream water pressure has
disappeared, it causes a danger to the upstream slope. Soils
inside the dam body remain saturated and seepage commences
from it towards the upstream slope. Seepage and
hydrodynamic pressures create downward forces acting on the
upstream slope. Those are adverse to the stability and create a
critical condition to the upstream slope. While the
development of deep seated failure surfaces is possible, the
effect on earthen side slopes is most commonly seen in the
form of relatively shallow slope failures, which if left
unattended lead to the gradual deterioration of the whole dam
[10].

where, kx and ky are the coefficients of permeability in the xdirection and y-direction, respectively; w is the unit weight

of water; w is the volumetric water content; is the soil

suction; and t is time. According to the equation, a soil-water
characteristic curve, which is a relationship between the
volumetric water content and the soil suction, as well as a
permeability function, must be known for transient seepage
analyses [10].
II. Description of problem
In order to investigate the effect of drains on upstream slope
stability during rapid drawdown condition, a zoned dam is
used as the experimental model for this study.
As shown in figure two the model is a zoned dam with a height
of 23 m above the ground level, a crest of 8 m and a length of
146 m. Both upstream and downstream slopes have the
inclination of 3H: 1V, which is so common in earthfill dams.
The foundation is considered to be rigid. The maximum ware
table is at 20 m above the ground level. that the permeability
of drain material assumed to be much more than the
permeability of membrane material.

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Issue 4, Volume 4, 2010

Fig. 1 Soil- water characteristic curve and permeability function of soils

III. Method of analysis

As previously said, our purpose is investigation of effect of
horizontal drains on upstream slope stability during rapid
drawdown condition. In order to reach this goal the analyses
are done in three stages.
First it is assumed that the water table is at the maximum level
and then steady seepage analyses are established for all
different drainage scenarios. From these analyses pore water
pressure can be obtained in any region of dam. These pore
water pressures will be used as initial conditions in rapid
drawdown analyses. It should be mentioned that, the seepage
analysis software SEEP/W (Geostudio 2004) is utilized to
obtain pore water pressure distributions and phreatic line. This
software is based on finite element method.

The dam configuration and the horizontal drainage location are

shown in figure 3. Four scenarios are analyzed base on
different drainage configurations. The first scenario involved
the dam configuration without drainage. In the second one the
dam has one horizontal drain, And the next two scenarios
involved the upstream slope has two and three horizontal
drains. It should be mentioned that the drains length are
considered to be half of horizontal length between slope
surface and the core.
All the material parameters used in rapid drawdown analysis
are shown in table 1. Except permeability, the other material
properties are considered to be isotropic. It should be noted.

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Issue 4, Volume 4, 2010

Fig. 2 Cross section of experimental model

Fig. 3.a. Dam with one horizontal drains in upstream slope

Figure 3.a. Dam with one horizontal drain in upstream slope

Fig. 3.b. Dam with two horizontal drains in upstream slope

Fig. 3.c. Dam with three horizontal drains in upstream slope

Fig. 3 Different configuration of drains in upstream slope

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Issue 4, Volume 4, 2010

Fig. 4.a. drawdown ratio 0.25

Fig. 4.b. drawdown ratio 0.50

Fig. 4.c. drawdown ratio 0.75

Fig. 4.d. drawdown ratio 1.00

Fig. 4 Seepage flow for different drawdown ratio

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Issue 4, Volume 4, 2010

Fig. 5.a. Equipotential lines in case of no drain

Fig. 5.b. Equipotential lines in case of three horizontal drains

Fig. 6 Factor of safety for different for different drawdown ratio

Fig. 6 The increase of seepage during long term condition

Table 1 Soil properties used in rapid drawdown analyses

Slope
Darin
Core

(degree)

C(kPa)

(kN/m3)

Kx/Ky

32
32
25

10
10
25

21
21
20

5
5
5

89

Failure
criterion
Mohr coulomb
Mohr coulomb
Mohr coulomb

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GEOLOGY

Issue 4, Volume 4, 2010

the increased frictional strength. At the lower levels of

drawdown, the increased frictional strength starts to have a
greater influence than the increased weight.
The existence of drains has great influence on factor of safety
of upstream slope during drawdown condition. The increase of
factor of safety is up to 12% if there is only one drain in
upstream slope. In case of presence of two and three horizontal
drains, the increase of safety factor of safety is up to 31% and
48%, respectively.

In the second stage, the rapid drawdown is simulated by means

of hydraulic functions. The water level in reservoir is supposed
to lower quickly into four steps. The maximum water level
lowered equally in 5 m for each step. The rate of drawdown is
1 m/day. The drawdown ratio 0.25, 0.50, 0.75 and 1 are
modeled in this research. It should be noted that, due to water
fluctuation in front of slope, the boundary condition for the
slope below water level is not a constant total head boundary
condition. So the total head is defined as a function of time
and the function is applied to slope boundary below water
level during rapid drawdown.
At the final stage, the software SLOPE/W (Geostudio 2004)
that uses limit equilibrium method for slope stability analysis
is utilized to assess the effect of drains on improvement of
upstream slope stability during rapid drawdown. The Spencer
analysis method is selected. The shear strength of soil is
described by mohr coulomb failure criterion. The pore water
pressures used in slope stability analyses are imported from
rapid drawdown seepage analyses.

C. Increase of seepage during long term condition

The preparation of horizontal drains in upstream slope can
cause increase of seepage during long term condition. This is
the most undesirable effect of horizontal drains in upstream
slope of which should be taken into consideration in design of
earth dams. This matter is revealed in figure 7.
References
[1] Berilgen M, Investigation of stability of slopes under
drawdown condition. Computers & Geotechnics 2007; Vol.
34: 81-91.

V. Results of analyses
A. Outpouring seepage flow during rapid drawdown
Due to existence of horizontal drains in upstream slope the
seepage flow increases. In other words the outflow in case of
presence of drains is much more than the case where there is
no drain in upstream slope. As shown in figure 4 if there is
only one drain in upstream slope, the increase in outpouring
flow is up to 29%. In case of presence of two and three
horizontal drains, the increase of seepage flow is up to 81%
and 160%, respectively. It is so clear that the drains play an
important role in expelling the outflow.
The upstream horizontal drains are capable of draining the
upstream slope and making the equipotential lines tend to
become horizontal. This effect is shown in figure 5.

[2] Lane PA, Griffiths DV. Assessment of stability of slopes

under drawdown conditions. Journal of Geotechnical &
Geoenvironmental Engineering 2000; 126(5):44350.
[3] US Army Corps of Engineers. Engineering and design
manual- slope stability, Engineer Manual EM 1110-2-1902,
Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers, Washington
(DC); 2003.
[4] US Army Corps of Engineers. Engineering and design
manual - General design and considerations for earth and rockfill dams, EM 110-2-2300, Department of the Army, Corps of
Engineers, Washington (DC); 2003.
[5] Duncan JM, Wright SG. Soil strength and slope stability.
Hoboken (NJ): John Wiley & Sons; 2005.

B. Factor of safety
The results of stability analyses of upstream slope during rapid
drawdown condition, are plotted in figure 6 for different
drawdown ratio. It can be seen that for drawdown ratio 0.25
and 0.50 the factor of safety are more than the minimum
allowable factor of safety (1.20) and there is no need to exist
any drain in upstream slope. In order to reach the minimum
allowable factor of safety, at least two horizontal drains should
exist for drawdown ratio 0.75. At last for drawdown ratio 1,
presence of three horizontal drains is necessary.
The interesting results shown in figure 6 indicate that the
factor of safety decreases dramatically from the beginning of
drawdown until the water table reaches 1/3 of initial water
table. The value of safety factor, when water table reaches 1/3
initial water table, can be considered nearly minimum. In other
words, the differences of safety factor are not so great for
drawdown ratio 0.75 and 1.0. The explanation of this fact is
that, in the initial stages of drawdown, the increased weight of
the slope has a proportionally greater destabilizing effect than

[6] Griffiths DV, Lane PA. Slope stability analysis by finite

elements Geotechnique 1999; 49(3):387-403.
[7] Chardphoom V, Michalowski R. Limit analysis of
submerged slopes subjected to water drawdown. Canadian
geotechnical Journal 2006; Vol 43: 802-814.
[8] Fell R, McGregor P, Stapledon D, Bell G. Geotechnical
engineering of dams, London (UK): Taylor & Francis
Group;2005.
[9] Chen Q, Zhang L. Stability of a Gravel Soil Slope under
Reservoir Water Level Fluctuations. ASCE Journal of Slopes
and Retaining Structures under Seismic and Static Conditions
2005; 24(2):1-10.
[10] Reddi LN, Seepage in soils principles and applications.
Hoboken (NJ): John Wiley & Sons. ; 2003.

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