The Influence of K-ratio and Seepage Velocity on Piping Occurrence

In case of judging the stability of dike or dam structures which need hydraulic interception, the first thing to do is to examine whether a piping phenomenon occurred or not. Generally, dike or dam structures are constructed while layer compacting is executed, so permeability is likely to be anisotropic- different from each other in hydraulic conductivity in the horizontal direction [] and hydraulic conductivity in the vertical direction[]. This study looked into exit hydraulic gradient and Seepage velocity by conducting an Seepage analysis subsequent to various hydraulic conductivity ratios[k-ratio = ky / kx] and examined the influence on piping by comparing & examining critical Seepage Velocity based on critical hydraulic gradient in theoretical equation and critical Seepage Velocity in empirical equation. As the research result, it was found that hydraulic conductivity ratio operates as a very important factor in case the stability against piping occurrence is considered with the concept of critical hydraulic gradient, but relatively the hydraulic conductivity ratio is very low in its importance in relation to the concept of critical Seepage Velocity.